Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
by MaloMoriQuamFoedari
Summary: If you wish for peace, prepare for war. When Lieutenant Arizona Robbins, USMC, is critically injured in combat, she needs the best to help her hold onto life, not just the way she knows it, but in general. Luckily for Arizona, the best happens to be Dr. Calliope Torres, superstar with a scalpel. However, even the best can't perform miracles - but that doesn't mean they won't try.
1. Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori

**Si vis pacem, para bellum  
**

**A/N: So this is my first attempt at a Grey's fic, and yes, I'm pretty sure that things like this have been done a gazillion times already, but blame the BBC, the Olympics/Paralympics and the awesome show that was on last night called "The Best of Men". It was really inspirational and now I understand the origin behind the creepy Paralympic Mandeville mascot! Yay!**

**All of my... knowledge… for this comes from video games, movies and such like. Therefore it is probably totally inaccurate and I apologise in advance if that is the case! **

**Please be gentle (cue snigger – I never say that) and enjoy (I do say that)!**

**Oh and disclaimer stuff – not mine, not profit, but just a little bit of fun? We'll see…**

* * *

******Prologue: Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori  
**

The stereotypical 'pop pop pop' of controlled light rifle fire was immediately replaced by the unmistakable churning of chain fed machine guns, interspersed with the erratic crackle of the infamous AK-47 – terrorist weapon of the year, 2010.

This is what Arizona Robbins loved. She had only ever had one goal in life, and that was to be a marine. She was her father's daughter, a daddy's girl and worshipped the ground he walked on. Since before she could remember, Arizona had heard the pride in her father's voice when Colonel Daniel Robbins of the United States Marine Corps retold her grandfather's story, how he'd saved 19 men before he'd drowned after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour and brought down the USS Arizona - her namesake. And Arizona Robbins was determined to do it proud. That was her favourite story, and she wanted her father to talk about her with that same level of pride, to make her own stories.

"I NEED A SITREP ASAP, KAREV! WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT AIR SUPPORT?" Captain Hunt bellowed from beside her his voice hoarse from shouting.

They'd been on a routine patrol, boring really, that was until their company had been blasted from a not-so uninhabited derelict old steel factory. Ambushed, they'd scrambled for cover, thankfully, by some miracle, the company only sustaining a few shrapnel injuries that weren't immediately life threatening. The small farm house they'd commandeered, if you could call what really amounted to an abandoned stone shack that,had a roof terrace, with partial cover being provided by a low wall around the perimeter that Arizona guessed was to stop people falling off the roof, although she had no idea how that was supposed to help, they'd more likely trip over it and fall headfirst to a sandy, deserty death below than not.

"ROBBINS!"

The churning of machine gun fire continued, drowning out all other noise until the clip came up empty with a tell-tale click.

"ROBBINS! LIEUTENANT ROBBINS!" Arizona snapped her head around, eyes suddenly being filled by a very red, very angry looking, sand covered Captain.

"I NEED EYES ON THAT RPG, ROBBINS, WEAPONS FREE, WHEN YOU SEE 'EM, YOU LIGHT 'EM UP, GOT IT?"

"YES SIR" Arizona responded in kind, her AUG HBAR already set up in front of her, resting on a small upturned plant pot placed in a small hole that had long since crumbled out of the terrace wall, lifting the rifle into the perfect elevation to make contact with the infested building, and the perfect shooting height in her current prone position.

"CONTACT LEFT, CONTACT LEFT, NORTH EAST SIDE!" The sound of a radio blaring declared, but it did nothing to interrupt Arizona's concentration as she positioned herself at the sights of her rifle. She'd already taken down countless hostiles wielding RPGs and sniper rifles with her baby, never seeing anything past the weapon in her enemy's hands; because that's the only way you can do it. Start thinking about everything outside of the here and now, it got you killed, or worse, got your friends, your fellow soldiers, the people whose backs you're supposed to have, killed. In battle, it's either you or them, so you'd better get your head in the game or get praying.

"HOMESTEAD, THIS IS SANDBREAKER ACTUAL WE'RE GOING TO NEED AN ETA ON THAT AIR SUPPORT, REPEAT WHERE IS OUR AIR SUPPORT?!" Hunt continued to yell his tone becoming ever more enraged.

"CAS IS INBOUND, ETA 5 MINUTES FROM YOUR CURRENT LOCATION, REPEAT, CAS IS INBOUND." An eerily calm voice from the other end of Hunt's transmission replied. Definitely not the news they were looking for when ammo was running low.

"Fuck…" Hunt growled, slamming himself into the sand as another shell passed perilously close to their heads.

"You got eyes on that shooter yet Robbins?"

Arizona ignored her Captain, she was the best shot in the company, man or woman, she'd even earned herself the title of Hawkeye by her fellow Marines, and having her superior pressuring her to make a shot wasn't going to make finding the little shit any quicker. The inside of the building was shadowed by the sun, it was impossible to make a shot until…

"You got him Hawks?" The soft voice of her spotter, Teddy Altman, penetrated the ambient gunfire that had surrounded this god-forsaken hellhole corner of bum-fuck Afghanistan for about 2 hours now. "I got jack shit."

"Just gotta…" Arizona drawled, licking her cracked lips before an intense flash of light flew past her retinas.

"There." She whispered, releasing a steady breath.

In the same instant the flash appeared, Arizona squeezed off a round, the power of her HBAR sending a deafening crack above the cacophony of less powerful weapons fire and a reassuring, familiar buck into her shoulder. Arizona watched as the round hit her target at centre mass, a ragdoll of a body falling forwards out of the open window as the RPG shell exploded about 60 metres short of the house.

"Nice shot!" Teddy whooped, patting Arizona on the back after seeing the exact same image as Arizona had through her spotters lens. "I knew we called you Hawkeye for a reason!"

Arizona extricated herself from her rifle, grinning at her best friend and partner in crime, the leggy, blonde, tactical specialist, Theodora Altman.

"Well… I am the best." Arizona smirked, getting a firm punch to the arm in reply as she pulled her canteen from the holster on her thigh.

"And you're so modest…" Teddy replied, barking out a laugh as Arizona shoved the canteen hard into her friends chest, a devilish grin gracing her lips.

"RPG!" A shrill shout announced, not meters from their position. Arizona's eyes snapped up at the noise, all hint of frivolity gone in an instant. Sure enough, Arizona saw a similar muzzle flash to the one she'd witnessed not 2 minutes ago.

'_Where the hell do these guys keep coming from? And where the hell do they keep getting these RPGs?!'_

This was different though. Usually you could hear the shell whizzing through the air, getting deeper as it fell, or got further away and you could always see a faint trail of smoke left by the ordinance, but this time, Arizona didn't see anything. And she had the eyes of… well… A hawk.

"Teds…" Arizona said slowly, her mind finally putting all of the morbid pieces together.

"TEDDY!" Arizona screamed, grabbing her spotter by her tactical vest and practically throwing her down the stairs into the safety of the house below.

Seconds later, Arizona felt the floor beneath her shake, followed immediately by the heat of a thousand suns burning through the skin on her right arm, the right side of her face; then weightlessness – almost as if she was flying – and darkness.

* * *

"ARIZONA…" A familiar voice screamed sounding a lot like Teddy, but it was too far away and Teddy was right here… Her ears were ringing something rotten, but the voice still seemed too far away… Arizona was faintly aware she was laying on her back, but didn't feel hot anymore, like she did day and night in this place, she didn't feel fatigued, didn't feel the sandy concrete beneath her, or the burn of the sun as it heated the hilt of her father's old hunting knife at her hip that she took with her on every sortie.

"ARIZONA!" The voice said again, only this time it sounded even further away, and almost as if Teddy was crying, but Teddy never cried. The only time she could remember Teddy being like this was when Tim…

Using all of her strength to look down at her legs, Arizona saw what looked like a mixture of blood and sand covering the lower half of her BDUs. But she hadn't been hit, she felt fine, she couldn't feel…

"THIS IS SANDBREAKER ACTUAL, WE NEED A CASEVAC ASAP, REPEAT ASAP, WE HAVE AN OFFICER DOWN."

The sound of her superior officer was overwhelmed by the hugest explosion Arizona Robbins had ever heard in her entire life, followed by the whoosh of jet engines above her. Air support…

Arizona never felt the aftershocks the collapse of the enemy stronghold caused.

_Oh shit…_

So maybe it was dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori, but that didn't mean that it didn't feel like shit.

* * *

**A/N 2: Soo, yes, Dulce et decorum est is from Wilfred Owen's poem of the same name/ Horace's Odes (whichever floats your boat), and translated basically means, 'it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.' Agree? Disagree? Tell me! Like the story? Hate the story? Tell me! Reviews are like crack to fanfic writers, and we are all addicts.**

**Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day ;)**


	2. Semper Fidelis

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: So this is the first chapter proper, and some Callie! Yay! Poor old Arizona got blown up last time, what a bummer! Let's see what's in store for her next! **

**I may be in need of a beta, we shall see… Oh, and I am not a doctor, definitely not, so if all the stuff in this story is medical hocus pocus, and if it's not possible in real life, it's possible in here because we have Callie, and she is a goddess! I will try to make it kind of plausible though!**

**The characters are not mine and all that jazz.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Semper Fidelis**

Arizona really wasn't a normal girl growing up. Unlike the other girls in her class, who couldn't get enough of their Barbies and My Little Ponys, Arizona would much rather play cowboys and Indians with her brother and his friends in the park, or watch the soldiers in their shiny uniforms drilling on the parade ground. She'd never really understood the desire to sit indoors, brush a dolls hair for hours on end and make them get married, or have tea parties or whatever.

Oh and soccer, she'd loved to play soccer! That's how she'd met Teddy. She was playing ball with her brother a park just outside the camp Pendleton in San Diego, when Timmy accidently shot the ball right into the face of this gangly, quiet bookworm of a girl, which just so happened to be one Theodora Altman. And there began a beautiful, if at the time, unlikely, friendship. They'd gone through thick and thin together, Arizona, Tim and Teddy, all getting grounded for a month after being caught smoking behind the shed in Teddy's garden, all going to the funfair at least once a month so Tim could eat 20 corn dogs and puke up on the rollercoasters, or just hang out and talk… Arizona missed that bit the most, just being able to talk to her brother…

They'd all enlisted together into the Marine Corps, even though Arizona being a couple of years younger than Tim and Teds meant they'd had to put their careers on hold, they did it, because they did everything together.

Maybe if she had been more of your typical girl growing up this wouldn't have happened. She'd be at home, maybe with a girlfriend, maybe a dog, and chickens… Arizona had always had this weird thing for chickens. Tim had called it cuckoo, but Teddy had always told her it was cute… Kinda.

But all that was by the by, because she was a marine, damn it, and she wasn't going to let this beat her. She was better than they were, stronger, but more importantly, she wanted it more. There may be a devil on her shoulder waiting to pull her down into the depths, but she'd fight, because that is all Arizona had ever wanted to do. Fight, and fight hard for the things you love, and Arizona loved life.

* * *

Callie's day was pretty much the shittiest piece of shit in the history of shit. Her residents were idiots, her interns were even worse, and the nurses were understaffed. Again. Oh, and the coffee cart on the 2nd floor was KIA after some maniac, probably an intern, with a gurney pummelled it into the ground. So yeah, you could say that Callie was having a bad day. Add to that the fact that early spring wasn't really the peak time for any really interesting sports injuries, tropical storm Torres had definitely made land.

"Jenkins, where are the charts I asked you to write up for me?" Callie asked, her voice like ice, whilst she poured over the chart of a patient who'd decided it was a good idea to try and be Tarzan and swing from tree to tree. On a bed sheet…

"I… Umm… They're…" The nervous intern replied, his eyes suddenly finding something very interesting about the floor when the full wrath of the Torres glare was unleashed upon him.

"They're what Jenkins? What? They're at the spa? They're having a facial? Getting a manicure/pedicure? What?" Callie snapped. Caffeine withdrawal and incompetent interns really didn't make for a pretty picture.

"Umm… I've…" The intern tried again, his eyes still planted firmly on his shoe laces, terrified of the daggers Dr. Torres was currently staring at him.

"I want the charts, Jenkins." Callie growled, her voice so low and primal, the intern actually jumping backwards a step before running off in the direction of the missing charts.

"And I mean yesterday!" Callie shouted after him.

"Torres, that was evil. You know the poor kid has a hard time under pressure." Mark Sloan, head of Plastics, resident lothario and best friend of Callie Torres commented, leaning casually against the nurse's station Callie was working at.

"Yeah, well, news flash, Mark, but he's a surgeon now, so he'd better learn to deal with it or find a new job." Callie snapped, slamming the chart she was reading closed and chucking it back onto the nurse's station.

"Woah, woah, woah, Torres, what's got into your knickers? Or not as the case may be…" Mark smirked. Always with the innuendos.

"Oh shove it, Sloan." Callie growled back, she really didn't have the patience for Mark's antics today - especially when he was annoyingly right and she hadn't gotten her hands on a cup of Joe all day.

"Well… I guess I'll just have to drink this double espresso I just happened to find on my way here myself then, won't I…" Mark drawled, talking to the small cup of coffee he had in his hand as the pair walked through the hospital hallway.

"Excuse me?" Callie stopped abruptly, grabbing onto the back of Mark's navy blue scrub top to stop him escaping her clutches.

"I said I'll have to… Hey!" Mark tried to protest, but Callie was too quick, as fast as it was in Callie's hands, the coffee was gone, making its slick, smooth - Callie wouldn't go so far as to say orgasmic, but something along those lines - way down her throat. She let out a guttural moan as she swallowed the last of the liquid.

"Really, Torres?" Mark barked a laugh, "Its only coffee, it's not like its sex."

"Bite me, Mark", Callie snarled, walking away from her friend. Her sex life or lack thereof really wasn't something she wanted to talk to Mark Sloan about at this instant. Or ever, really.

"When and where?" Mark winked, matching her stride. It really was too easy to get Callie worked up when she was in a mood like this and he just couldn't help himself, even if it did put his life in mortal danger.

"What do you want Mark? Why are you here?" Callie interrogated. Mark rarely came to see her just for the sake of coming to see her. Not when there were nurses, or dermatology fellows to try and get into the pants of.

"What, can't I just come and see my best friend when I have a moment?" Mark asked with a lame attempt at puppy dog eyes.

"Umm…" Callie pretended to think about this for a moment, stopping in her stride. "No."

Mark just laughed, putting his arm around the shoulder of his best friend and colleague.

"Okay, well I just came to tell you we have a pretty nasty case coming in, transfer from the military, war wounds, big ones, bony ones they couldn't fix in the field, or at the military hospital..." Mark patted his friend once on the back and began to race down the stairs.

"Don't say I don't ever do anything for you, Torres!" He shouted back at her.

'_Coffee and war mangled bones.' _Callie nodded her head in approval as she rolled the sleeves of her undershirt up to her elbows and made her way down the stairs after her friend.

'_Maybe today won't be as bad as I thought.'_

* * *

They'd kept her drugged up for most of the time since after she'd been… injured. If it was up to her, she'd be dry turkey, not a pain med in sight, but the doctors thought otherwise. Not that she'd really had much of a chance to voice her opinion; the drugs had kept her pretty groggy, so that when she did manage to get her eyes open, Arizona could barely form a coherent sentence.

Once or twice she thought she'd heard her Dad's voice, or Teddy's, or her Mom's… But she could never get her eyes open in time to see them, to show them that she was still there. Arizona didn't even really know the full extent of her injuries. Yeah, she'd been hit, and pretty bad, but that was another down side to the morphine. She couldn't feel anything, the pain – the gauge to tell her just how fucked up her body had become - was gone. Shit… she didn't even know if she still had both her legs. Or her dog tags, or Timmy's…

She'd catch snippets of conversations of nurses, or doctors, with words like, incurable, improbable and impossible slipping from their tongues like acid.

That was, well, at least Arizona thought was, about 2 a couple days ago, and about a week after she had, effectively, gotten blown up in the desert half a world away.

Since then, she'd been laying there, drugged up, passed out or barely conscious whilst the people around her dithered and were stumped about what to do. Maybe stumped wasn't the best word to use…

"We're taking her to Seattle, Marine." A deep commanding voice came from below her bed, maybe out of her room, or ward, or whatever she was in.

"But Sir, she could easily destabilise, it's…"

"No, Corporal. I know my daughter." The voice put a frightening emphasis on the word daughter.

'_Daddy…'_

"And she wouldn't want to live like this. So we're moving her, somewhere where there's a person, people, who are going to try and give my daughter some semblance of a life back."

"Yes, Colonel" The other voice replied, pitch perfect and drilled to military precision. There was no arguing with a Colonel.

"Make arrangements for Lieutenant Arizona Robbins to be moved to…" Her father paused.

" Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital."

Seattle… That's Washington, and Arizona was pretty sure they were in Virginia at the moment…

'_Must be some doctor'_, Arizona mused to herself.

"Sir, yes Sir" The voice of the stranger barked back, followed swiftly by the sound of boots hitting concrete.

"Semper Fi, Marine." Her father's voice was much closer now, as though he was right beside her, and gentle. "

We're going to get you out of here, we're going to get you fixed up, my little soldier. I promise."

Arizona had always been his little soldier, even before she could walk, and Colonel Daniel Robbins never made a promise he couldn't keep.

'_Semper Fi, daddy, Semper Fi.'_

* * *

"So when's this soldier person coming in?" Callie asked Mark as she chomped on a wilted piece of hospital cafeteria lettuce, then proceeded to spit it back out, eyebrows furrowed at the offending leaf.

"Umm… Later today sometime, I think." Mark replied absently, his eyes raking the ass of the new Neuro scrub nurse.

"WHAT?" Callie exclaimed. Usually these kinds of cases were only taken after some sort of consultation by the surgeons who would be involved in the case, planning possible courses of treatment, or, in some cases, whether treatment was actually at all possible. Occasionally, the odd case came through straight from the board or the Chief, but they'd always have time to review the case. Not today, it seemed.

"Later today, don't know exactly, though." Mark answered, his eyes no longer resting on the ass, another of his favourite areas...

"Why didn't anyone tell me before? Why haven't I seen charts or… or x-rays or anything before now?" Callie asked, pushing her tray of food away from her in disgust after finding a slightly hairy tomato.

"I dunno Torres. It's the military, y'know." Mark sighed as if that would explain everything, his eyes finally turning towards his fellow surgeon.

"Besides, this sounded like a kind of last minute thing. Something about a Colonel in the Marine Corps and good publicity for the hospital and Larry Jennings…"

"Oh…" was all Callie could manage. Larry Jennings, big-head of the hospital board and even bigger asshole, who, Callie was sure, was going to be all over this case like a rash on a prostitute. Just perfect.

"Yep." Mark replied in kind.

Suddenly, a shrill beeping pierced the air, the small black device Callie had put on the desk beside her wiggling its way off the table.

"Soldier?" Mark asked around a mouthful of apple as Callie rose from her seat, tray and pager in hand.

"Dunno." Callie replied as she turned to dump the remnants of her lunch in the trash.

"Let's go find out."

* * *

"You see here." The rich lustre of a woman's voice echoed through the room like a symphony.

"The ligament has been totally destroyed. I mean, it can be fixed, but the main problem is the tibia and fibula. Somehow…" The voice paused, a tinge of awe and sympathy within it timbre, but no less beautiful.

"The bones are totally out of alignment, I mean, it's almost as if her leg was twisted 180 degrees. To be frank, I'm surprised they didn't amputate in the field. And the foot and ankle… Well… Apart from the fact that they're not attached to what they should be, they're not in bad shape."

'_Shit. 180 degrees? Surely they're talking about someone else.'_ Arizona prayed, despite all the obvious signs that it was indeed her, Arizona Robbins, who they were talking about. A girl can dream, right?!

"And that's the worst of it?" A familiar gruff voice replied, it sounded tired, but still held that aura of command that had never failed to put Tim and herself in their places, or spill their guts when they'd done something wrong.

Arizona felt eyes on her, her skin started burning, trying to get her to get her own eyes open to see what kind of siren this magnificent voice belonged to.

"Yes Sir, that's the right side, which, as you probably know, is the worst. The left leg seems to be healing fine, not to say that it's easy sailing, but in comparison…"

There was a loud sigh, and the sound of hands rubbing through a bristly chin on, what Arizona assumed, was her father's usually meticulously clean shaven face.

"I know this is hard, Colonel Robbins. Especially when you feel so helpless, but I promise you I'm the best and I'm going to do everything I can to try and get your daughter back on her feet. Okay?"

'_Okay, they definitely weren't talking about someone else'_. Arizona was suddenly very thankful for all the morphine they'd kept pumping into her.

"Thank you, Dr. Torres, you don't know how much this means." Her father's voice, thick with emotion, stated.

'_Dr. Torres…'_ Arizona made it a mission to remember her name, there was no way she would ever forget that voice, but she had to remember the name, as much as the drugs tried to steal it away from her.

"Everyone deserves a square deal, Colonel Robbins. Your daughter fought for her country, risked her life for that, so I'm going to make sure she gets what she deserves."

Arizona heard some clunking around, the sound of a clipboard being snapped closed, followed in quick succession by the slap of plastic hitting plastic at the foot of her bed.

"Dr. Torres… It's just Colonel to you…"

"Then it's just Callie, sir." Callie's musical voice chirped, sending shivers down Arizona's spine.

Only people her father really respected, or had known him since he was young, ever got to call him Colonel, but Callie… Dr. Torres had managed to get that envious privilege in a matter of hours. Arizona was impressed.

"And Sir…" The voice seemed further away now, much to Arizona's dismay.

"I'd like to talk to your daughter about her treatment… I know she's in a lot of pain, but these procedures, if she wants me to do them… Won't cure that instantly. They're painful in themselves, sir. There's always the option of amputation that would be much less painful…"

'_No, no, no Dr. Callie Torres and I was really starting to like you…'_

"But I would really like to avoid that."

'_Phew. Crisis averted.'_

"Still, it's your daughter's decision, so I'd really like it if I could get your permission to lower her morphine dosage just a bit, and have a chat with her about it when she comes round."

'_She could take the pain, she was a Marine Goddammit, if it meant keeping her legs…' _Arizona mentally steeled herself. She didn't need to know anymore. Pain and legs or pain and no legs? Not really a question, not for her, at least.

'_You gotta break some eggs to make an omelette. Heh... Break...'_

"I'm sure she's a fighter, Sir, well… She's a marine… Besides, you've got to break some eggs to make an omelette, right?"

'_Abso-frickin'-lutely Right.'_

Arizona heard her dad chuckle at the clichéd phrase.

"I think that's exactly what Arizona would say."

"Well then… I won't keep you any longer, I'll send a nurse by later to alter the morphine drip. I'm on call all night, so I'll be able to speak to her as soon as she comes round, and put the dosage back up asap if she's in any discomfort."

The fading clip clop sound of retreating footsteps was all Arizona could hear as her saviour left the room, and herself and her father to their thoughts.

'_Dr. Callie Torres…'_ Arizona liked it, although she couldn't help but feel there was something missing, something that would meld together the name and the voice, but she could work with that.

Oh, she could definitely work with that.

* * *

Callie stuck the x-ray on to the light board. Just from a pretty basic inspection, Callie knew she'd never seen anything like this in her life. It was ridiculous, really, that the body could take this kind of punishment and still keep working. Switching from medical notes, to the x-rays of her patients legs on the light board, Callie sighed.

It seemed Lt. Robbins had been taken to Camp Bastion, the best equipped and closest field hospital in Helmand Province, and was operated on by a mixture of American and British military surgeons to repair a collapsed lung, 3 fractured ribs, multiple shrapnel wounds, a lacerated liver, 3rd degree burns to the right side and, of course, had had her legs stabilised.

No wonder they didn't amputate then and there. Her body probably wouldn't have been able to take it, not with the added trauma of all that surgery.

"Shit." Callie breathed as she slumped down in a chair set just in front of the light box. She'd told Lt. Robbins' father she'd do everything she could to save her daughters leg, and she would… But whether it would work again, was a completely different matter.

Pulling out her pager, Callie tapped off a quick message and clipped it back onto the waistband of her scrub pants. She could turn the leg, she was pretty certain of that. It would take months in pins before it became truly stable, even after they'd re-attached the ankle and the knee… That wasn't even mentioning the cartilage damage.

Tilting her head to the side to gain a different view of the films, even though she'd poured over them for a couple of hours before going to talk to Colonel Robbins… Hoping this would help her find a quick and easy alternative to the hard, gruelling surgery she was going to have to perform.

The sound of the door seal being broken pulled Callie from her concentration.

"Dr. Torres," A man with perfectly sculpted hair greeted her, coming to stand behind her whilst mimicking Callie's tilted head at the x-ray films.

"You paged?"

"Dr. Shepherd." Callie replied, her eyes never leaving the films.

"I'm going to need your help."

* * *

**A/N 2: So, Callie is going to do everything and anything to try and get Arizona back to 100%. Arizona has heard Callie, but hasn't actually seen her yet. I wonder what she's going to think when she actually sees her… Like we don't already know! And Callie has yet to experience the magic of the trademark Robbins dimples! Maybe next chapter…**

**Thanks for reading, you guys rock! Next chapter should be up soon, with more/reciprocal Calzona, because that's all we really want, right?!**


	3. Veni, Vidi, Vici

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: Another chapter! I'm on a roll - a big buttery bacon bap that I just can't get enough of! Oh jeez, bacon..!**

**Anyway, now that I am well and truly salivating and have turned myself into Homer Simpson, I would just like to put it out there that Callie and Arizona are the only reason I still watch Grey's Anatomy. Sooo, if anything happens to Arizona, Shonda… You're gon' have some 'splainin' to do!**

**Thanks for all the reviews so far guys, hope you enjoy the chapter! **

**In this, the real world, I do not own these characters. In my own little world, however, that is a completely different matter.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Veni, Vidi, Vici**

"_IT WOULD BE EASIER IF WE LEVELED THE BUILDING." Teddy's shouted beside her. They'd just taken down their second sniper from the building they'd been ambushed from, the midday sun creating a sheen across Arizona's brow._

" _HOMESTEAD, HOMESTEAD, THIS IS SANDBREAKER ACTUAL, REQUESTING PERMISSION TO CALL IN AIR SUPPORT ON BUILDING ALPHA 2-5, CONFIRMED ENEMY SNIPERS AND RPGS, REPEAT, REQUEST CAS ON BUILDING ALPHA 2-5, DANGER CLOSE. OVER." Hunt simultaneously commanded into his radio, as if reading Teddy's mind. _

_The two friends looked at each other incredulously before snorting out a short laugh._

"_YOU AND HUNT, TEDDY." Arizona smirked. "MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN! ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME YOU TWO GOT IT ON? Y'KNOW, MASHED GENITALS? DID THE HORIZONTAL LINE DANCE?!"_

"_SHUT UP HAWKS! YOU JUST KEEP YOUR EYES ON THAT BUILDING" Teddy grinned, her attention being drawn back to the building in front of them. Seconds later, Teddy began to give commands to Arizona regarding the whereabouts of their latest quarry, the wind direction, speed and distance- all the essential pieces that would allow Arizona to make the perfect shot._

_Teddy's crush on their superior officer wasn't exactly a secret, but that didn't mean that Teddy wanted her feelings broadcast to the man by her best friend in the middle of a fire fight in the desert… even if even the most naïve of recruits couldn't help but see the eyes Hunt made at her. Arizona was pleased for Teddy; after all, everyone deserved a little bit of happiness in this shit storm called life. It had taken Teddy a long time to come back after Tim... Arizona, well… She was still working on it…_

"_SANDBREAKER ACTUAL, SANDBREAKER ACTUAL THIS IS HOMESTEAD, CAS INBOUND, REPEAT, CHARLIE ALHPA SIERRA REQUESTED INBOUND AT THIS TIME." The radio crackled._

"_Top floor, second window from the right. RPG. 1010 metres. Dead air." Teddy breathed, Arizona lining herself and her baby up via her spotters commands._

_Not 10 seconds later, Arizona had the shot, had compensated for recoil from her AUG HBAR-T and had squeezed off a round straight through the enemy's chest._

_1 shot, 1…_

_**BOOM!**_

The blast of an RPG startled Arizona awake, beads of icy sweat running freely down her forehead. Ever since that day, she'd been having flashbacks. Not necessarily of the moment she'd been hit, just snippets of the day in general, but they always ended in exactly the same way.

But this time, when she woke, it was different. She could see… There was a large door in front of her, reinforced glass on the top half matching that of a large window adjacent to it, through which Arizona could see the dim lights of a hospital hallway. Must be night time…

And she was sitting up! Suddenly a rush of wooziness swept through Arizona, bringing with it the unmistakable urge to vomit, prompting Arizona to flop back down onto the bed, her head throbbing at the sudden change in altitude. And pain, lots of pain…

"Lieutenant Robbins, are you okay?!" The magical voice Arizona had heard earlier whispered, concern etched in every beautiful note.

Turning her head gently to the side to meet the voice that had mesmerised her since the second she'd heard it not even a day ago, Arizona's eyes widened in surprise.

Holy hand grenade, Batman! This woman was stunning! The way her raven hair hung delicately at her shoulders, framing the mouth-watering caramel skin of her face, delicately punctuated with a pair of full, luscious lips, made Arizona's skin tingle pleasantly.

"Dr…" Arizona tried, her throat burning as soon as she opened her mouth, causing a pained squawk to be emitted in its place.

Callie leaned over, cup of water from… somewhere in hand; positioning the straw above her mouth, giving Arizona a perfect view of Dr. Torres' cleavage intermingled with a slightly musky hint of perfume that tickled her nostrils. Arizona wasn't ever really a religious person, but today, she knew there must a God out there somewhere, and boy, was she praising him.

Eyes rolling into the back of her head at the sight, Arizona latched her lips tightly onto the straw her hot, hot doctor had kindly held just in front of her mouth to keep from moaning. Finishing off the cup, Dr. Torres moved away to set the plastic hospital issue cup down, allowing Arizona a glimpse of her lab coat and more specifically, the navy blue script covering the left breast…

Dr. Calliope Torres.

_'Perfect...'_

Smacking her lips gently, Arizona locked eyes with her saviour, Callie's chocolate orbs of eyes seemingly burning straight into her soul, igniting a small pit of fire burning within her chest, but strangely Arizona didn't seem to be the least bit embarrassed. Mesmerising herself in Callie's russet eyes, Arizona glimpsed compassion, patience, loyalty, all with just a hint of playful mischief bubbling below the surface.

Breaking eye contact and stepping back suddenly, Callie cleared her throat somewhat maniacally, making Arizona grin. It seems like she wasn't the only one who couldn't stop staring.

"I'm Dr. Torres, Lieutenant. Robbins. But you can call me…" Callie began before an illuminatingly raspy voice cut her off.

"Calliope…" Arizona choked out, despite the water earlier feeling like heaven on her throat, her voice was still scratchy.

"Excuse me?" The Latina asked incredulously. Arizona guessed that not many people called Calliope by her full name. Shame.

"Your name." Arizona nodded at the Latina's lab coat, eyes clamping shut at the pain. She really shouldn't have done that – any over 'exuberant' movement made is seem as though a Boeing C-17 Globemaster had decided to land squarely on top of her.

"It's beautiful. Extremely beautiful… And apt." Arizona re-opened her eyes, not even sure the Latina had heard her until the most magnificent rose blush appeared on Calliope's cheeks. To be honest, it wasn't really like Arizona to come out and say something so… forward as that to what amounted to a complete stranger. Arizona couldn't really believe what she'd just said, and maybe it was the drugs, but she couldn't find it within herself to care. It was the truth, right?

"And it's just Arizona, Calliope." Arizona couldn't contain her smile, the way that name felt on her tongue was like nothing Arizona had ever experienced before. It was an explosion of colour in a life that, in comparison and up until now, had only known grey.

"Uhh…" Callie stuttered, a smile quirking at the corner of her lips as she shook her head and stepped back to regain composure.

Arizona watched as Callie opened the chart and scanned her eyes quickly across the notes inside, her teeth nipping lightly at the corner of her bottom lip in concentration.

"Yeah. Okay." Callie steeled herself, making Arizona bite back a laugh.

"I'm here to talk to you about your… umm… accident." Callie tip-toed around the subject, not sure how much detail Arizona really wanted her to go into.

"It wasn't that really that much of an accident, Calliope. I'm pretty sure the guy who fired that RPG was intending to hit us, so…" Arizona replied, the smile ever present on her face. Yeah, it wasn't definitely nice that she'd been effectively blown up, and she wasn't about to invite the guy who did this out for drinks, but that didn't change the fact that it was war, and people were actively trying to get each other killed – actually that was pretty much their main objective. She'd killed more than she'd like to admit, and up until now, Arizona had played the odds well. The enemy believed in their cause just as Arizona believed in hers…

"You want to talk to me about my legs?" Arizona prompted happily when the Latina failed to continue.

"Yes." Callie stated, seemingly coming out of her stupor yet again.

"I don't know how much you know about the damage…"

"Not much to be honest." Arizona replied honestly, coughing as her hoarse voice decided to leave her again.

"All I know is that one minute I was engaging the enemy in the middle of the desert, the next I was in a hospital bed in Virginia and now, I'm here. In Seattle…"

"Okay, well, I'm not going to beat around the bush." Arizona smirked at Callie's unconscious choice of words.

"Your left leg looks okay, I don't think I'll need to do any surgery on that, at the moment, but your right leg is, for lack of another term, completely FUBAR.

Arizona barked a hearty, if gravelly, laugh at the military slang from her doctor's, very accommodating looking, lips, which ultimately lead to another round of stabbing through her leg.

Fucked up beyond all recognition. Yep. Callie wasn't lying when she said she wasn't beating around.

"Can you fix it?" Arizona asked, the pain banishing all signs of frivolity that she may have previously had. She tried to sit up, help herself take in the important information Callie was about to tell her, but her legs, fuck it, her whole body protested. Wincing, Arizona let it be. Best not to poke the bear.

"Honestly. I don't know, but, with the help of my colleague, I'm going to do my best. I can definitely reattach the knee and ankle to the tibia and fibula, but due to the force with which the limb was wrenched, there's a whole lot of muscle, ligament and cartilage damage. It's all going to take a long time, and full functionality of the leg is an unknown at this time." Callie said in what Arizona assumed was her best professional voice, the atmosphere in the room had definitely just become a lot cooler, but that might just have been the fact that Arizona was used to the hot sun of Afghanistan over cool Seattle.

"Well, that's… SHIT…" Arizona growled, slamming a clenched fist onto the unoccupied slither of bed beside her, causing Callie to jump. She'd been trying to keep her spirits up, look at this from a 'at least I'm alive' point of view, but being told you may never walk properly again, never be able to run, play soccer… It was shit – horseshit, bullshit, chicken shit… it didn't matter, at the end of the day, they were all shit.

"Sorry…" Arizona breathed, even the small effort of her outburst had drained her completely of energy causing her to grimace as the pain intensified with fatigue.

"It's fine, Arizona… To be honest, that's the kind of reaction I'd expected from the beginning…"

Arizona heard movement beside her, from the direction Callie was standing, the noise shuffling around to the drip stand and morphine bag feeding her left arm.

"No." Arizona stated. She knew what Callie was planning to do, and she wasn't about to enter that drugged up lethargy that had left her to the mercy of her dreams and made her lose track of time, of faces, of names, of people…

So the pain when she moved too much was beyond any kind of pain she'd ever experienced, shooting like wildfire from her legs to the tips of her fingers in seconds. That just meant she wouldn't move much. That constant ache she could take, it reminded her of the nights spent at boot camp after a gruelling day out training. That pain was bearable.

'_The pain lets you know that you're alive.'_ Alive when she could so easily be dead.

"Arizona, if you're in pain, you should…"

"No." Arizona repeated, grabbing Callie by the loose arm of her lab coat to stop her fiddling with the IV, wincing again at the sudden movement, eyes still fixed firmly closed.

"Please…" Arizona almost pleaded, "I don't want to go back to that. I'm fine, I can take this… Please…"

Feeling the lab coat tighten in her grip, Arizona let go, Callie obviously moving away from IV territory.

"Okay, if you're sure, Arizona…" Callie murmured, a hint of something in her voice that Arizona couldn't quite place.

"I need my legs, Calliope…" Arizona managed, just before the darkness overtook her again.

"Thank you…"

* * *

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." Callie muttered to herself as she leaned heavily into the now closed call room door.

Callie couldn't get her out of her mind. Those eyes… They were the ocean, but infinitely deeper, and Callie knew she could get lost in them for the rest of her life if Arizona wanted her to, and her lips, the way they'd latched onto the straw in that cup of water… Ordinarily, nearly anything could be sexier than that, but damn…

Oh and the dimples when she smiled… It's like the world stopped turning when Arizona turned on that smile. Callie hoped Lt. Robbins had a license for them, because those were some dangerous dimples and Callie didn't want her newest patient to get into trouble…

Running over to her now unconscious supposed best friend, Callie shook Mark violently awake. She didn't know how he had managed it, but somehow, between the 5 minutes of her paging him, his reply and getting to the on call room, Mark had managed to fall asleep. Lucky bugger.

"Mark," Callie called as she shook his shoulder.

"MARK!" Callie shouted, adding a light slap to the cheek as an added incentive for her fellow surgeon to wake his lazy ass up.

"Hey, hey, watch the money maker Torres." Mark moaned sleepily as he rubbed his offended cheek, still not making a move to actually wake up properly.

"You work with your hands, Sloan..."

"That's what she said." Mark slurred a chuckle as he sat up, running his hand through greying locks.

"Urrgh, really Mark?!" Callie growled, plopping herself down next to him on one of the cots. What was with this guy today? It'd be nice if she could actually manage a serious conversation with him for once without the innuendo.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry Torres. What's up?"

"Lieutenant Robbins..."

"Lieutenant Robbins…" Mark drawled, trying to piece together any clues as to who this mystery person may be. Snapping his fingers together, Mark pointed both index fingers at the Latina in a light bulb kind of moment.

"The soldier!" Mark exclaimed. However, after one look at the dark furrow growing on Callie's brow, his tone quickly changed.

"What's wrong? You can't operate? Bones too mangled? What is it?" Mark asked inquisitively.

"No, no, nothing like that. At least, I don't think so…" Callie began, her hands picking at some invisible lint on her scrub pants.

"Then what's the problem? That's great news," Mark continued in his earlier chipper fashion.

Callie paused, her mouth making a pretty good impersonation of a goldfish as she struggled, and failed, to find the words to explain her predicament to Mark.

"Spit it out Torres, as much as you may think otherwise, I do actually have a job you know..." Mark interrupted, as he witnessed the ever certain Calliope Torres floundering in her own thoughts.

"I mean, top marks on the goldfish impression and all, but…"

"SHE'S HOT!" Callie blurted, her cheeks burning the second she spilt the beans. "And I mean, like, really hot, like, I'm going to rip your clothes off hot and do nasty things to you hot until you can't walk straight hot."

"Okay…" Mark replied, not really understanding the problem, until…

"Ohh... That whole professionalism, no patient/doctor loving slash scandal slash hospital gossip malarkey."

Slapping Callie on the knee as she grunted a reply, Mark rose to his feet, stretching his arms over his head as he made his way to the door of the room.

"Yep. Oh… Torres, d'ya know if she even… y'know" Mark made a point of thrusting his hips theatrically as he spoke, his hand resting on the doorknob.

"Swings that way?"

Mark Sloan, vulgar as always.

"No, but…" Callie replied quietly after a pause, her head slumping dejectedly. Although she'd had the distinct feeling that Arizona had been flirting with her, and had been pretty forward with some of it, there were a whole pharmacy of drugs floating around in her system at the moment…

"Well… Don't get yourself all pent up if she's not interested and prefers some dog in her bun. Believe me; no good can come of that. No good at all…"

"Okay, thanks Mark." Callie sighed, dropping her head into her knees.

"Wait… What?!" Callie called, head snapping up as what Mark had said finally sank in.

"Never mind." Mark quickly spluttered, swinging the door open a little too vigorously and striding out of it like a man on a mission.

"MARK!" Callie called moving into the hallway whilst checking there were no nosy ears within range of catching their juicy gossip. Callie lowered her tone as Mark quirked his head.

"But what if she is?"

Turning to face his friend, all the while moving further away, Mark gave a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders.

"She's not going to be a patient forever, right? Everyone deserves to be happy, Torres!"

Watching as her friend turned a corner and left her sight, Callie stood stock still in the middle of the deserted hallway, a mixture of emotions she couldn't decipher running riot through her body.

Right… But she was sure as hell was going to be for a long, long time.

* * *

**A/N 2: Just in case you didn't realise, but Calliope was the muse of epic poetry in Ancient Greece and the name itself, Καλλιόπη, in Ancient Greek translates roughly to "beautiful voiced". And yes I am a geek and did Ancient Greek at school. A Greek geek, if you will. That's why I made Arizona so captivated with Callie's voice. Well, that and Sara Ramirez does have a beautiful voice anyways, so win-win!**

**Now, since I've given you your useless piece of information for the day, what did you think of the chapter? I'm planning on doing a bit of a time jump past the surgery next chapter, but if you want me to add the surgery in, I will – drop me a review or PM me if you have any feelings either way. **

**Thanks for reading, you guys really are awesome.**


	4. Perfer et obdura dolor hic tibi proderit

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: As per consensus, I skipped past the surgery, which is good, because I am no surgeon. And I watch a lot of sci-fi. I'm still laughing at that scene in Prometheus. You know the one.  
**

**The excerpt at the beginning of this chapter is taken directly from Marvel Comics' Solo Avengers, Vol.2, No. 15, it's not mine, it's Stan Lee's! Although it did take me a good while of trawling through old comic books to find it…**

**Now that we have thoroughly established that I have no life, and never did, here is the chapter! Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: ****Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim**

"_Don't do anything hasty, pal! In case you don't recognise us, I happen to be the Chairman of the West Coast Avengers… And the Lady is a renowned super-spy! Since there are barely a hundred of you, and the odds are so heavily weighted in our favour, I'm going to be sporting and give you a chance to surrender!"_

Arizona chuckled as she threw the battered old comic book the table trolley set up in front of her. About a week after her surgery, Arizona had woken up to find a huge air mailed box waiting for her, with the comics and a note from Teddy inside.

Arizona took the crumpled piece of paper that she'd placed at the side of her bed, just within arm's reach and re-read the already worn letter:

"_Serves you right for being such a damn hero. _

_Stole these from your bunk, hope you don't mind – thought you might be going mad in that hospital bed of yours, I know what you're like._

_And leave those nurses alone, Arizona Robbins! They're trying to work._

_I'm glad you're okay, Hawks. I miss you!_

_Love,_

_Teds."_

Little did Teddy know, it wasn't the nurses that needed protection from Arizona... It was the doctors… More specifically one Latina Ortho attending named Calliope Torres…

At first Arizona was confused as to how Teddy knew where she was, it's not as if Seattle Grace Mercy West was a military hospital, or was anywhere near where they'd grown up, but when she thought about it, it wasn't really that hard to understand. Teddy had been almost a surrogate daughter to her parents after the amount of time the two friends, along with Tim, had spent being idiots together.

"Why do you read those things? I mean, they're alright, I guess, but you do know we have a library full of real literature here, right?"

Arizona smiled as she saw her favourite doctor leaning casually in the doorway of her room, her hair was tied up in a loose pony tail, the strands of loose hair spilling out and tickling the top of the Latina's neck.

"Me and Tim used to be obsessed with Avengers when we were kids. We used to run around the army base pretending we were our own little gang of superheroes, bringing justice to the world one evil maniac of a bad guy at a time." Arizona replied, smiling at the memory, her hand fiddling unconsciously with the dog tags that had been replaced at her neck, fingers finding the cool metal of one… two… and three…

Arizona had managed to persuade Calliope to let her wear them after she'd reattached her ankle, and hadn't made a sound when she'd put the three dog tags around her neck. Arizona knew Callie had seen them and knew it was odd, she could see it in the Latina's eyes, but Callie hadn't pushed it. Arizona was grateful for that. She didn't know if she could deal with dredging up those memories right now.

"And, Calliope…" Arizona drawled, her finger beckoning Callie closer, as though Arizona was about to reveal secret of life to her. Once Callie's ear was close enough that Arizona's nose was being lightly tickled by her doctor's black satin hair, the sweet smell of Callie's grapefruit shampoo invading her senses, Arizona let out a shallow breath.

"We always got our man."

"Oh really, Lt. Robbins? Is that so..?" Callie moved to pick up the discarded comic, eyes darting across the cover before placing it carefully back on the table.

"And this Hawkeye…" Callie continued, her rich chocolate eyes never leaving Arizona's baby blues, her voice rich and deep.

"Never misses a shot." Arizona replied without blinking. Neither does she.

They'd been flirting like this since the first time Arizona had actually managed to have a coherent conversation with her doctor. She wasn't sure that it was entirely… proper… but, for once in her life Arizona had decided to say balls to protocol. Besides, her daily meetings with Calliope were pretty much the only thing, apart from the comics, keeping her sane in this place.

Teddy and the rest of her company still had a couple weeks left of their tour and her parents lived half a continent away – they'd been there at first, and she loved them for it – the way they were so supportive in every part of her life, but God, if they didn't drive her crazy sometimes. The size of the small hospital room hadn't helped, and by the end of the first week she'd spent in Seattle, Arizona thought there was going to be a mini massacre on her hands.

Luckily, her dad had some important meeting to attend in Washington D.C., and though her mother would have stayed, Barbara Robbins was nothing if not a loving mother, Arizona had been a lifelong internaliser, and this was no different. She needed time to wrap her head around everything on her own, her mom understood that. She was exactly the same.

"I just popped by to check on your leg, make sure everything is where it should be and that those pins aren't getting infected."

"Aah, doc, you wound me!" Arizona mocked, clutching at her chest theatrically.

"Here I was thinking that you came to see me because you liked me."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, Lt." Callie grinned, her hands delicately probing her leg with practiced ease, checking and rechecking the external stabiliser.

Every time Callie's warm tanned hands touched her skin, Arizona felt as though the entire national grid was routing through her body, every nerve went into sensory overload, every synapse working overtime, her breathing never failing to hitch at the more than welcome contact.

"Ouch!" Arizona winced. Okay, so not that delicately. Callie shot her a sympathetic look by way of apology, Arizona just waving it off. The pain now was a hundred times better than when she first got here, and she still had a fair amount of surgery ahead of her - the Latina finding Arizona's knee much worse than expected when they'd opened her up. Yeah, it was still painful and really, really itchy, but compared to before, this was a walk in the park… And it had its uses. She'd got to meet Calliope out of it after all.

"We still on for Scrabble later?" Callie asked nonchalantly, as if the request to play scrabble wasn't a big deal at all – and normally it wouldn't be, except…

"Urgh, Calliope, you always beat me at scrabble! Always! It's not fair – you banned me from using acronyms …"

They'd began this conversation the night before, when Callie, once again, had beaten Arizona and had named herself Queen of Scrabble.

"The rules banned you from using acronyms…" Callie muttered, leaning over to grab a pot of the Zinc Oxide cream that was working as an antiseptic for both Arizona's burns.

Not missing a beat, Arizona continued on her scrabble crusade, so much so that Callie wondered if Arizona had actually heard a word she had said.

"And you get to use all these fancy medical terms, half of which I am sure you just make up by the way, like… Oh what was it yesterday..? Oh, yeah… Vario.. Varicoche… Varicocele!" Arizona struggled. She had no idea how the thing was pronounced, let alone what it meant.

"It's a varicose vein a man may get in the… produce department, if you must know." Callie replied, her voice the epitome of professionalism.

"What?!" Arizona barked, her body beginning to shake with laughter, "are you being serious?! That's disgusting!"

"Hey, stop laughing; I'm trying to work here!" Callie mock protested, the grin on her face giving her away instantly. Arizona's eyes rolled into the back of her head as the Latina slowly began to rub the cooling ointment into her skin, making Callie grin in response. This was Callie's favourite part of the day. Yes, technically, a nurse, or intern, or someone who wasn't an attending in orthopaedic surgery could rub ointment into a patient's leg, but Callie loved that she was the one who made Arizona feel like this, as entirely inappropriate as that was.

"Okay, okay, fine, but how about we play something a bit more my speed?" Arizona managed, the laughter having robbed her lungs of oxygen.

"Have pity on the poor old crippled soldier, eh?"

Arizona pulled out the puppy dog eyes, adding in a pouty lip for extra clout. Secret weapon deployed. There was no way that Calliope was going to able to deny her now.

"What do you want to play?" Callie sighed. Like she could ever say no to that face.

Arizona punched air in exultation; she'd had a whole childhood of experience at getting her brother to cave. She'd been somewhat of a connoisseur of the art, and had had it perfected by the time she was 9.

"Risk." Arizona stated, levelling her sapphire eyes to meet the umber of Callie's.

"Risk?" Callie replied, her left eyebrow quirking as she wrapped her talented tongue around the word.

"Risk." Arizona repeated, hoping this wasn't going to be one of those Beetlejuice moments.

"How is that fair, I mean of course you're going to beat me at risk, you're a soldier! You do war for a living! It's like me asking you to play operation!" Callie complained, all the while making sure to be extra careful with the ointment around Arizona's pins.

"Oooh, operation! I love operation! Let's play that!" Arizona clapped her hands gleefully; she'd loved that game as a kid!

"Ay dios mio!" Callie sighed to no-one in particular, cleaning her hands of gunk and scribbling furiously at Arizona's chart before dumping it back in the holder at the bottom of Arizona's bed.

"I'll see you later."

"Don't forget the operation!" Arizona called after her surgeon, eyes firmly planted on a certain pair of cheeks as Callie left the room. As much as she loved it when Callie came to see her, Arizona couldn't deny that she kinda liked the view when she left.

"What operation are you forgetting? And why did you say my name? Do we have a surgery?!" Mark, who had been checking on a patient just down the hall, boomed.

"No, Mark. I told Arizona that I'd play operation with her later." Callie replied, stifling a yawn. It was only mid-day and half-way through her shift, but she already felt as though she'd been up for 40 hours. Taking in Mark's perplexed look at her comment, Callie elaborated.

"Y'know, the game? With the buzzing and the red nose..?"

"How come you get to call her Arizona, and I still have to call her Lt. Robbins?" Mark asked, his confusion obviously nothing to do with the childhood game.

"You stare at her boobs." Callie replied matter-of-factly.

"Well, they're good boobs! And don't act like you don't." Mark said dejectedly, scuffing his foot out at the floor and shoving his hands in his lab coat pockets.

"Not when I'm talking to her I don't. Besides, we have a reciprocal arrangement, Mark." Callie smirked. She'd caught Arizona sneaking a peek a couple of times when she was bending over to check the progress on her leg, the cute blush that erupted on the blonde's face proof enough for the Latina's suspicions.

"Oh, and you've had your hands all over her ass." Callie added, annoyed.

"It's a good ass, too." Mark perked up at that, the look on his face all too smug for Callie's liking, especially when Arizona had been cooped up in a hospital bed for the entirety of her stay, and the Latina had yet to personally assess all of Arizona's assets.

* * *

_BUZZZZ!_

"Goddammit! Stupid Adams Apple, I mean, where the hell are you supposed to pick it up from?" Arizona grumbled as she threw the tweezers down and promptly began scratching away at the newly grafted skin under the bandage on her right arm.

"Can you stop itching, please?" Callie requested in her best matron, mother-knows-best voice.

"But, Calliope, it itches!" Arizona cried. She swore this was some sort of new torture technique the military had decided to us her as a guinea pig for.

"You'll scar. Do you want it to scar, Arizona?" Callie continued, maybe she was being a bit harsh, and it may have been a bit selfish, but Callie really didn't want Arizona to muck up that skin graft. Callie had always thought scars were pretty sexy, but there was a limit – especially when you had such silky smooth, milky white skin as Arizona. The bits that hadn't been exposed to the harsh desert sun were, anyways.

"Yeah…" Arizona moaned as she continued to scratch. Man, that felt good.

"Scars are badass. Besides what's one more little scar?"

"Arizona Robbins, I'll have to page Sloan to come in here and sort it out again if you break the skin. He's very proud of that graft, you know." Callie said, raising an eyebrow at her patient and crossing her arms firmly across her chest.

"That's because he took the skin off my butt. Perv." Arizona grumbled as she stopped scratching, unconsciously rubbing the side of the cheek Mark had decided to take the skin from. Arizona was sure that he could have used some other part of her body, but Callie had insisted, when Arizona protested, that due to the state of her legs, the ass was, indeed, the only suitable alternative. That didn't mean that Arizona liked it. "Fine."

"Thank you." Callie replied happily as she grabbed the discarded tweezers of the game she'd commandeered from peds. The bread basket was going to be child's play. Just gotta get hold of that little handle…

"But next time, you're getting gauze paws."

Arizona's sapphire eyes widened in fright at the prospect. Gauze paws meant no cutlery. No cutlery meant no spoons, and no spoons meant… No jello! It had kind of become hospital folklore how much their star patient and war hero enjoyed her jello.

"You two sound like an old married couple, you know that?" A woman's voice at the entrance to Arizona's room catching the attention of the surgeon and soldier.

"Momma!" Arizona cried, her face matching Callie's in a nice shade of beetroot. All of their flirting had been completely harmless, no unjustified touching, nothing like that, it was all a bit of fun – they'd only known each other for what? Two weeks at most? Not to mention that Arizona was a patient, for Gods-sake, and she'd never do anything to jeopardise Calliope's job. But even her mother mentioning something so… important… miraculous… so distant in what may turn out to be a hypothetical future as being married to Calliope Torres, made Arizona's heart flutter.

"Hey baby, how are you feeling?" Barbara asked, walking into the room and checking her daughter's temperature out of habit with the back of her hand.

"What are you doing here? How long have you been standing there?!" Arizona blurted out, shaking the totally crazy, but totally awesome images from her brain.

"Zona, you seriously think that I can stay away from my baby when she's in a hospital bed for more than a week? And not long, dear."

Barbara proceeded to sit in the unoccupied seat opposite Callie, and gave her daughter's surgeon the patented Robbins dimpled smile.

"Mom, I'm 27." Arizona rolled her eyes and looked at Callie for support, who just shrugged.

"And you're still my baby." Barbara cooed, enveloping Arizona in a warm embrace.

Feeling slightly awkward in the new company and becoming entirely too self-conscious, Callie cleared her throat and made to get up from her chair.

"I should probably get going…" Callie mumbled, stepping slowly towards the door.

Arizona shot her a questioning look, one Callie replied by nodding minutely towards the elder Robbins, her hair bobbing magically at the movement.

"Oh, Callie dear, no, please stay. I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Barbara cut in, her eyes darting back and forth from her daughter to Callie to the half-finished game on the table.

"No, Ma, Calliope was just telling me how she had a consult to do soon." Arizona reassured, watching as Callie visibly relaxed at the lie.

Callie sent Arizona an 'I could kiss you right now' look - which Arizona was more than up for - before nodding sadly to Mrs. Robbins in agreement.

"Oh, well that's too bad. I really wanted to get to know this amazing surgeon my daughter keeps raving to me about on the phone. We didn't get to talk much before and…"

"MOMMA!" Arizona shouted, suddenly wishing that hospital bed sheets were just that little bit thicker so she could smother herself and her embarrassment right there and then.

Callie let out a hearty laugh at the confession from Barbara's lips, watching Arizona squirm like that was the cutest thing, but made her way to the door anyway, save the blonde beauty from herself, and her mother.

"I'll check up on you later. Just remember…"

"I know, I know, no itching." Arizona held up three fingers on her right hand. "Scout's honour."

"You weren't a scout, Arizona." Barbara noted, foiling Arizona's attempt to pull the wool over Callie's eyes.

"Fine," Arizona muttered, releasing her thumb and pinky finger so her entire hand was raised beside her.

"Marine's honour. Semper Fi… So help me God." Arizona added. It was going to take all the will God could give her to not itch the oh so itchy itch.

"Mrs. Robbins, it was a pleasure to meet you again." Callie turned to Barbara, the smile she gave would have made Arizona weak at the knees, if she wasn't in a bed already and her knees weren't pretty weak to begin with.

* * *

Callie had just finished what felt like the longest shift of her life. Just after she'd slipped out on Arizona and her mom, the Latina had been called in to perform a hip reduction on a 35 year old female who'd been mown down by a drunk driver whilst out on her daily run. It was people who did things like that, which made Callie wish she hadn't sworn an oath to 'do no harm'.

Feeling like she needed to rant, and knowing that Mark's shift had finished a couple hours ago, Callie decided to pay a visit to her favourite patient. Her patient, who was also bedridden and couldn't escape her pending outburst at the stupidity of the human race.

Opening the door gently, Callie was met with the most beautiful sight. Arizona, head dangling to one side, was drooling lightly in her sleep, her hair looking like some sort of creature out of a bad sci-fi B movie.

Stifling a laugh, Callie moved into the room as quietly as she possibly could, and delicately brushed the hair back from the blondes face, Arizona's brow furrowing in her sleep at the contact.

Throughout the day, when she was awake, Arizona had the uncanny ability to be constantly perky, at least Callie had never seen her patient ever truly anything else, but she always held a look in her eye, a small line across her forehead that said "I've seen things". But in her sleep, Arizona was the picture of innocence.

Deciding that her rant wasn't really all that important, and not feeling half as angry as she did before she entered the room, Callie quietly tiptoed back to the doorway of her soldier's room, whispering as she left,

"Sleep tight, my soldier. Sweet dreams."

* * *

A/N 2: And today's Latin title means… Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you. Arizona's has already been useful - she met Callie out of it! Next chapter, Arizona is going to have some stuff to deal with, but I promise it's going to drive the narrative forward rather than being in there for the sake of it. What will Callie do when she sees a darker side of the queen of perky?

Thanks for reading and the reviews, I love 'em!

Much love!


	5. Bella, detesta matribus

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: Some things are finally catching up with Arizona. Surprising? Let's see how our favourite pair of gals deal with this bump in the road.**

**I play Rugby. This may sound irrelevant, and for the most part it is, however… I may or may not have, in a moment of hubris/madness, attempted to fly whilst playing the aforementioned sport, and may or may not have landed squarely on my left knee. Way to go me! It is now the size of a cantaloupe, and I am walking like a penguin. So, I got a bit distracted and it is for this reason I didn't get this update out sooner, sorry guys!**

**I knew there was a point to that somewhere in there. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter Four: ****Bella, detesta matribus**

The dreams had come back. They didn't stop her from sleeping, per se, but that was kind of the problem. She was stuck in the dreams, or more accurately, nightmares. These weren't the ones of her being hit by the RPG, either – she could deal with those, she'd lived through that tale. No, these nightmares were older than that, more potent and never had a happy ending.

"Hey! Big surgery day today!" A cheerful voice cut into Arizona's consciousness, her blue eyes slowly meeting the wonderous sight of a bright eyed Calliope Torres, a small cardboard box tucked under her arm.

Arizona gave the Latina a small smile, dimples barely making an entrance. Not even the sight of Callie could rid her of the funk.

"Hey." Arizona replied trying her best to sound enthusiastic and not cause her foul mood to bring Callie down into the depths with her.

"Soo.. I found this game I thought you'd like for after your surgery. Had to bribe a couple of kids down in peds, but..."

Taking in the blonde's forced expression and the distant look in her eyes, Callie stopped in her tracks. She was smiling, but it wasn't a real smile, not like the ones she'd gotten day in and day out from the soldier whose strength and determination in the face of such pain and adversity had Callie mesmerised from the first time she'd met her.

"You okay?" Callie asked gently, coming to perch on an unoccupied edge of Arizona's bed, placing the now forgotten game on the table trolley at the foot of Arizona's bed.

"It's fine." Arizona said, trying the smile again, but knew it fell flat the moment Callie gave her the quirked eyebrow. From the moment Arizona had locked eyes with Callie, it was as though the raven haired goddess could see right into her soul, knew every move Arizona was about to make, before even she did.

"Really, Calliope, don't worry about it."

"But I am…" Callie replied, concern the only tone in her velvet voice.

"I said drop it, Calliope." Arizona really didn't have the will power to fight anymore, not after all this time.

"Arizona…" Callie drawled. There was something troubling her friend, and Callie wasn't about to let it drop, not when she could tell it was something big, no, HUGE.

"I'M NOT A HERO, CALLIOPE!" Arizona shouted, finally snapping after what seemed like a lifetime since she'd received that God-damned box.

"What?" Callie's eyes widened in shock. She really hadn't expected that. Callie had thought maybe something about having to undergo another round of surgery had gotten the blonde beauty all tensed up, but she never expected this.

"I'm not a hero… they act like I did something special, but I'm a marine, y'know?" Arizona continued, picking up speed, the anger robbing the words that had been floating around her head since she'd gotten the box.

Any one of us would have done what I did, I guarantee. There are people out there who give their lives out there and don't get anything. But they give me, ME, this?"

Arizona was livid as she threw a small blue box, not dissimilar to a jewellery box in Callie's direction, the Latina almost fumbling her catch as the item met her hands. Righting the box in her hand, Callie flipped the lip, her umber eyes being greeted by the shiny golden metal of a cross, with a ship, sails billowing in the wind, in the centre.

A Navy Cross.

Callie furrowed her perfectly sculpted eyebrows at the sight. This was a good thing, an amazing thing, yet Arizona was acting as though someone had just killed her puppy.

"Arizona, this is amazing, it's an…"

"No. Don't say it's an honor. There's no honor in war, Callie. You realise that when you see the children whose lives have been torn apart by a war that they are too young to understand… People, they have honor, soldiers, they have honor but war doesn't. I don't deserve that." Arizona spat with such venom in her voice, Callie wondered whether the two of them were looking at the same thing. The fire in the blonde's eyes was destructive, intense, fierce and yet sooo not unsexy. The Latina tried a different tack, trying to calm her patient, the person who had become one of her best-friends in less time than it takes a rugby player to neck a pint, down.

"Arizona, I know what you did." Callie stated, her tone low and soothing.

Arizona shot Callie a confused look, unshed tears welling in her sapphire eyes. They'd never talked about what had brought Arizona to her at the hospital, other than the details necessary for medical attention, but the people at Seattle Grace Mercy West loved nothing more than a thrilling tale, and Arizona's tale was nothing if not thrilling. At least to an outsider.

"People talk. Around here, people talk and I know what you did. You saved her life, Arizona, and risked your own to do that. I think that's pretty heroic and honorable, and I doubt that there's a person in their right mind out there who disagrees with me." Callie continued, her voice beginning to become raised as she pointed a thumb out towards the door behind her. How Arizona couldn't see that what she had done was miraculous was beyond Callie.

"NO. NO, CALLIOPE. I'M NOT THE HERO. TIM WAS THE HERO AND NOW HE'S DEAD." Arizona shouted, a waterfall of salty tears suddenly carving a trail down her now red and blotchy, beautiful face. Arizona raked her hands through her hair, trying to find some place in her head that made all this make sense.

Callie mentally tried to place a Tim in her map of Arizona's life. She'd heard of a Teddy, but Callie was 95% sure that Teddy was a chick. To the best of her knowledge, Callie had never heard Arizona mention a Tim. Which, considering the power and emotion in her outburst, was beyond strange…

"Tim's dead, and I'm not. And he was so good, Calliope, he was…" Arizona's body was wracking from tears that had been left unshed ever since Tim's funeral. She'd spent so long being strong… for her mother, for her father, for Teddy... Heck, even her job implied that she needed to be strong, so Arizona had been. For 3 years, Arizona had suppressed everything until it had become a ball inside her so dark and toxic, she sometimes felt as though it was eating her from the inside out.

But with Calliope… Arizona didn't need to be strong, she wasn't scared of appearing weak either. Maybe she'd just needed someone who wasn't so entangled in her life, in Tim's life to let go to, or maybe it was because she knew that Callie was strong too… Arizona wasn't sure, all she knew was that this felt right. Her telling Callie this, Callie being with her, it felt right.

Unable to sit by and watch as Arizona cried herself into oblivion, Callie maneuvered herself behind the shaking body, legs straddling the blonde as Callie wrapped Arizona in a warm embrace from behind, Arizona's hands immediately grabbing the Latina's arm as if holding on for dear life.

"And he was the best big brother in the world and he was going to get married… He was going to marry Teddy and they were going to be happy… But then he died, and…" Arizona continued. It had taken her a long time to get started, but it seemed that as soon as she did, she had to say it all. But then again, with Arizona – and in every aspect of her life - it was always all or nothing, she never did anything by halves.

Callie just held the smaller woman, listening intently. She wanted to know everything about Arizona, the good, the bad, the ugly, all so much more than she'd ever realised.

Then it clicked. The 3rd dog tag, Tim being Arizona's brother…

He died in the war…

Callie hoped that her presence, letting Arizona know that she wasn't alone, that she didn't have to carry all these burdens by herself, gave her at least a little comfort.

"He was the best of us. He was so much more than I could ever be, and I wish you could have met him." Arizona sniffed, melting into the embrace Callie had, at some point in time, Arizona wasn't sure when, enveloped her in. In these arms, the world felt a little lighter.

Arizona let out a long, steadying breath.

"Why did it have to be him, Calliope? It should have been me, Calliope. Not Tim." Arizona said, the way her voice was so steady and deep telling Callie the milk skinned beauty meant every word she'd just said.

Arizona felt Callie's warm breath on her neck, soothing her broken body, and broken heart.

"I miss him so much, every day I miss him. You can fix my leg, Calliope, but I'll still be broken." Arizona pulled the caramel hands that Callie had wrapped around her waist and clutched them against her left breast, just above her racing heart.

"I don't want to be broken anymore... It should have been me..." Arizona murmured, almost to herself. Callie wasn't sure she was supposed to hear it, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let Arizona get away with it.

"Don't you ever say that Arizona Robbins. Don't you dare say that, if your brother meant anything to you, if that dog tag you wear means anything, you wouldn't say that, you hear?" Callie whispered in Arizona's ear, feeling Arizona nod slightly in response, relaxing back into the Latina's soft, warm body.

'_I'll fix you.'_ Callie mused, unconsciously tightening her hold on the blonde. _'I'll spend my whole life fixing you if you let me.'_

It seemed like days they sat like that, Callie gently rocking her soldier, whispering sweet nothings in Spanish in her ear. For the first time in a long time, Arizona felt free, light, and those dreams, those terrible nightmares where she watched as her brother was gunned down inches from her whilst she was powerless to resist, Arizona had a feeling that she wouldn't be seeing those again.

Ever.

* * *

Barbara Robbins was a strong woman. She'd had to be, with a husband, son AND daughter in the Marine Corps, she couldn't really be anything else. When the kids were young, it hadn't been so bad. They weren't at war, and although Daniel had been on active tours of duty, they were nothing that ever really held any fear of getting blown up or killed. Yes, he'd been gone for 6 months, and she and the children had missed him like crazy, but Barbara had never once thought her husband, the father of her precious children, wouldn't be coming back.

But then Iraq happened, and her babies hadn't been so lucky. They'd both, as much as she wished they didn't, had their hearts set on joining the Marines, following in their father's footsteps, since they were tykes, Tim no more so than his sister, for as long as Barbara could remember.

She supposed that that was little consolation, that her boy had died doing the job he loved, that made him feel valued, but that was all it was, little consolation. Because when you lose your child, when you have to bury them and receive only a flag in return, that's all you can get. No mother should have to bury her child. Nature was supposed to work the other way around.

So when Barbara Robbins had received news that her only surviving child, her baby girl, had been injured in the line of duty, her thoughts immediately turned to the worst. She couldn't believe that this was all happening to her. Again. What had she done to piss the world off so badly?

Thankfully Arizona had survived; Barbara didn't know what she would have done with herself if her baby hadn't made it. It didn't bear thinking about, and although he didn't show it, stoicism being a necessity in a position such as his, Barbara knew that Daniel had been having the same thoughts and fears.

She'd spent the last couple of days in Seattle. Arizona had surgery today, and Barbara wanted to make sure that her daughter had someone there with her just in case the surgery didn't go well, or just to be a comforting shoulder.

A part of herself told Barbara that that wasn't the only reason she'd come to Seattle. She needed to make sure that her baby was okay, and although the surgery Arizona was having wasn't life threatening, Barbara wanted to be there, to make sure. Not that she could actually do anything, but just being there, in the hospital, helped calm her nerves.

Walking back to her daughter's room from the cafeteria - Barbara had arrived early at the hospital to find Arizona still sleeping and had decided to get a coffee and read a bit of the morning paper before waking her tired offspring – the elder Robbins heard voices. Two distinct voices… One she was certain was Arizona's and the other…

"I'M NOT A HERO, CALLIOPE!" Her daughter's voice sent shockwaves through the floor beneath her, Barbara halting on the spot. She'd never heard her daughter so angry, not even when Timmy had accidently broken her favourite BB gun by jamming the barrel when they were kids.

Barbara smiled sadly at the memory. She was glad her children had been such good friends and had loved each other so openly from such a young age – even if they did, with Teddy of course, act like The 3 Stooges more often than she would have liked.

"NO. NO, CALLIOPE. I'M NOT THE HERO. TIM WAS THE HERO AND NOW HE'S DEAD."

Barbara wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye. Arizona had always looked up to her big brother as if the ground he walked on was solid gold. Since the first time Daniel was on tour, Timmy had really taken the 'man-of-the-house' role to heart, and it kind of just stuck. It meant that he was super protective of his little sister, especially when the bigots of the world tried to break her for just being her.

Arizona was right, her son was a hero, especially to her daughter, but that didn't mean that her daughter wasn't a hero too. Barbara was going to be sure to remind her daughter of that, sooner rather than later.

No longer able to hear voices, Barbara carefully placed a clammy hand on the door handle cutting the hall off from Arizona's room before slowly opening the door into the unknown.

The sight she saw warmed her heart. Her daughter looked so peaceful, so at ease in her surgeon's arms, her eyes closed and head tilted towards that of the Latina, who, with eyes also closed was muttering what sounded like… Spanish? In her daughter's ear.

Closing the door quietly, not wanting to interrupt what seemed to be quite an intimate moment, Barbara let rip a full power Robbins grin for the first time in a long time.

All she ever wanted for her children was to see them happy, healthy and loved, and something told Barbara that Arizona had just gotten one giant step closer to that.

* * *

**A/N 2: Every man and woman in our armed forces (American, British, whatever), out there in the desert, or back here at home, are heroes. They put their lives on the line day in, day out, and whether you believe in what they are fighting for or not, they should be recognised as no more and no less than what they are – heroes.**

**Now that the serious part is out of the way... ****Reviews make my knee happy. That, and frozen peas, but I've run out of the second. Lol. Today's chapter title means "War, the horror of mothers."**

**Thanks for reading, hope I got tone of the chapter right and you didn't mind the little Momma Robbins POV I added in at the end! Fair winds and a following seas, guys!**


	6. De fumo in flammam

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: The next chapter for you guys, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, this woman named Shonda does. I think they have something to do with ABC too, but they definitely don't have anything to do with me. Sad times. I also don't make any money from this. Double sad times.**

* * *

**Chapter Five: D****e fumo in flammam**

"Bleurgh. I feel like a blob." Arizona moaned as she sweated her way through her second session of physical therapy.

Callie just chuckled as she watched Arizona from the side of the room, sitting on a disused exam table and happily munching on a half of a home-made burrito.

"And you are evil to be sitting over there eating what smells like heaven in a wrap, whilst I'm sweating my… Boobs off!" The sweaty blonde directed at Callie whilst relying mainly on her arms planted on the railings either side of her to guide her through the final three steps of her torture.

"Thanks, Adam." Arizona thanked the man who'd pretty much been her shadow throughout her whole hour long PT session whilst he helped her onto and exam table where he began massaging her legs.

Arizona had only had two sessions of PT so far, but she already liked this Adam. He was ex-military, had done a tour in Iraq and then decided to settle down with his wife and daughter in Seattle. Although the regimen he had Arizona on was brutal - sometimes that's the way it needed to be that way - Arizona enjoyed it. It reminded her of the trials and tribulations she'd gone through as a cadet to earn her status as a marine and was oddly comforting.

"You can have some if you want, you know." Callie shrugged nonchalantly, waving the other half of the offending item vaguely in the blonde's direction.

"Really?" Arizona turned to Callie licking her lips unconsciously, her bright blue eyes almost piercing a hole through the beefy goodness.

"Yeah." Callie replied simply, pausing to take another bite out of her burrito.

"All you have to do… Is come over here… And get some."

Arizona looked Callie dead in the face with a blank stare. She had always been under the impression that doctors were supposed to help people, not torture them.

"You are so mean. Adam, don't you think she's being mean?" Arizona turned to the physiotherapist who just laughed quietly in return, all the while massaging the already fatigued muscles in Arizona's legs.

Arizona barely had function in her right leg, and the left was only slightly better. Sitting in bed doing nothing for around 4 months really hadn't done her muscles any favours, and Arizona hated it. She was used to being virile, fit and healthy, the girl that could out run all the guys in training, who was always chosen first for sports and now, when Arizona was seriously craving some of that burrito action, she couldn't even walk 10 meters to get to it.

"Meh." Callie smirked, taking an extra big bit of the burrito and moaning joyfully into it. It wasn't half bad, even if she did say so herself.

"It's too good to share."

"But I'm a cripple!" Arizona cried, getting a stern look from her physio. Apparently the PT department didn't like it when you called their patients cripples – even if you were the patient.

"Yep." Callie agreed, loving the way she could get Arizona so playfully worked up.

"Calliope…" Arizona moaned lustily, immediately making the caramel skinned goddess' head snap up in her direction.

'_Now for the big guns'_ Arizona mused. Now it was her turn to smirk.

Pulling out the patented puppy dog eyes and an over exaggerated cartoon-esque pout, Arizona managed to get some fluid flowing in her eyes, giving them that pre-tear sheen that made anyone in the immediate vicinity feel completely guilty, even if they had never met her in their lives. Callie had no defence against this bad boy.

Callie almost melted right then and there at the stare Arizona was currently fixing her with, and before her brain registered it, her toned legs were carrying her over to the blonde.

Waving meekly to Adam as he left to begin treatment with his next scheduled patient, Arizona opened her mouth extra wide, ready and waiting for the docking of burrito and mouth to be completed.

"What? You can't use your own hands now?"

Arizona shook her head vigorously in reply, the blonde hair that wasn't stuck to her face bouncing cutely around her face.

"They really ache, Calliope!"

And Arizona wasn't lying. They ached almost as badly as her legs did. It seemed that sitting around and doing nothing had done more damage than Arizona had realised.

Callie just sighed and held the chili beef wrap just within reach of her sweaty friend's mouth. She didn't doubt that Arizona's whole body felt like shit/had been put through a meat grinder at the moment. Callie had dealt with enough cases requiring physical therapy to know that, if anything; the reconditioning was the hardest part.

"Mmm…" Arizona moaned, her eyes rolling slowly into the back of her head. This thing tasted better than it smelt. Arizona reckoned that

"That tasted really, really good, Calliope."

Arizona smacked her lips

"Where'd you get it?" Arizona asked. Maybe if she was really good, she could get one of the nurses or Callie to sneak her one of these bad boys.

"Uhh.. I made it, actually." Callie replied shyly. Apart from surgical, Callie was never one to be boastful about her accomplishments, it just made her feel uncomfortable, as though people were scrutinising her, weighing her up in their minds.

"You? You made that?" Arizona asked, surprised that Callie had never let slip about her mastery of the kitchen.

"Yes! You don't have to sound so surprised, you know!" Callie cried helplessly.

"I wasn't surprised… I was just… You never told me you could cook!" Arizona exclaimed, the spices of the burrito still lingering magically on her tongue.

"You never asked." Callie rebutted. If Arizona had asked, Callie would have told her, but she never did, so...

"You've sat there and watched me eat all those disgusting hospital servings of mystery meat and didn't tell me you could cook?!" Arizona exclaimed, slapping Callie lightly on the shoulder.

"You love the jello!" Callie replied in kind, her voice much higher than usual.

"Yeah! Only because it's the only edible thing in this place!" Arizona cried, Callie tipping her head as if to think and nodding at the statement. The food in this place really was pretty vile, hence the bringing of her own lunch.

"Besides, everyone loves jello!" Arizona retorted, never one to let the joy of jello to be undermined in any way.

"Yeah", Callie snorted as she held her arms out to help Arizona get into the wheelchair parked beside the exam table.

"When they're like 5."

Arizona held tightly onto Callie's shoulders whilst Callie held her steady around the hips, guiding the blonde gently into the wheelchair.

"Wallace likes jello." Arizona mumbled, wriggling around in the chair to get comfy.

Wallace was another of Callie's patients who'd been on the receiving end of a hit and run around the same time Arizona had been bought to SGMW. He'd needed surgery on his legs, and was currently undergoing physical therapy, exactly the same as Arizona. It seemed that the two had really hit it off since they'd met last week, and Callie could have sworn that she'd seen a couple of familiar looking comic books in the small boy's bedroom the last time she'd rounded on him.

"Arizona, he's 10."

"He's nearly 11, actually and that is exactly my point." Arizona yelled happily, as though that explained everything.

Callie just sniggered, the laugh doing amazing things to her chest, making Arizona snap her eyes closed and pray for strength. She wasn't going to try anything with the Latina, not, at least, whilst she was still a patient, unless Callie made the first move. Oh she wanted to, she definitely wanted to, but all the risk was on Callie's end, so Arizona had resolved to stay strong until she wasn't a patient anymore. Okay, so maybe not that long. She'd wait until she was an outpatient.

"You've got a bit…" Callie pointed to the side of her mouth and made a small wiping action to exaggerate her point.

"Oh…" Arizona replied, a rosy tint gracing her cheeks.

She quickly scrubbed at the sides of her mouth with the back of her hand, trying to end the embarrassing food-mouth scenario.

"I get it?" She asked, tilting her face up to Calliope for inspection.

"No, it's just…" Callie motioned with her fingers to her own mouth, the blonde copying her movements inch for inch.

"A bit to the left…"

Callie almost laughed out loud at the look of concentration on Arizona's face. She never thought that marines were supposed to be cute, but this one definitely was.

"Here, let me." Callie teased, a deft flick of her index finger making short work on the stain Arizona had been looking for for the better part of a minute now.

A mischievous glint flashed across the smaller woman's face as Arizona pounced, grabbing Callie's hand. Instantly, Arizona had the startled surgeon's index and middle finger in her moist mouth, sucking the delicious juices off them delicately with her athletic tongue.

"Ari..Zona!" Callie screamed, her breath hitching as she braced herself with her free hand against the arm rest of the wheelchair, which just so happened to give Arizona an uninhibited view of her cleavage.

Arizona made a point of keeping eye contact with the Latina as she slowly worked her tongue around honey coloured fingers, making sure every last inch of them had been inspected.

"Dios..." Callie breathed as Arizona released her fingers from her warm mouth with a pop.

"Really tasty…" Arizona whispered, wanting nothing more than to kiss the plump red lips that were currently inches away from her.

"Now who's the evil one?" Callie moaned as she inhaled a deep breath, drawing in the musky smell of a sweat covered Arizona. Normally that kind of smell made Callie wrinkle her nose, but on Arizona, Callie discovered she didn't really mind it.

"Monkey see, monkey do." Arizona answered, breaking eye contact with the gorgeous Latina and fumbling with the wheels of her chair before she did something she would definitely regret… might regret…

Quickly moving around to the back of the wheelchair, Callie released the brakes and grabbed hold of the handles at the back, shaking her head to regain some semblance of clarity.

"Let's go, Ironside."

* * *

"You know… I had to keep that burrito in the chiller with the blood packs so no-one would try and eat it." Callie stated after a while of walking in silence whilst Arizona fidgeted in the chair in front of her.

"Isn't that kind of against the rules, Calliope?" Arizona lowered her voice, her azure eyes darkening hungrily into an almost violet colour.

"Oh, definitely." Callie growled playfully as she turned Arizona around an oncoming gurney

"You're a very naughty girl, Calliope Torres. Very naughty indeed." Arizona husked, loving the little game her and Latina were currently playing.

"Is that so? Well, what are you going to do about it, marine?" Callie leaned down and whispered in Arizona's ear, causing the marine to gulp. The real question was, what wouldn't she do…

"Hey, Torres!" Mark's voice shook Callie and Arizona out of their private little world, Callie waving enthusiastically at her friend while Arizona sent him a death glare that could kill at 100 paces.

"Hey Mark." Callie replied happily, she hadn't seen her work husband for a while and had missed his unique take on the world. She hadn't missed his unsubtle passes at 99% of the female population of the hospital, however.

"Oh…" He jumped when he saw that Callie was pushing a wheelchair.

"I didn't realise you had Ironside with you. How're ya doing, Ironside?"

"I was doing really good until just now." Arizona grumbled, slumping into the wheelchair. Trust Mark to be the one to come and ruin their oh-so delightful, if slightly sadistic, game.

"Be nice to him, he's lonely." Callie whispered in her ear before returning her attention to Mark.

"What's up Sloan?"

"I just wondered if you wanted to go out to later, you know. Pick up some girls." Mark replied nonchalantly, getting the beginnings of a warning look from his best friend.

Arizona nearly protested, but bit her tongue before she said anything. It's not like they were an item or anything, or had even kissed. They were just friends…

"I think I'm good, Mark. Not really in the mood for picking up girls at the moment." Callie gave Mark a tight smile and moved her eyes towards Arizona.

"Ohhh! Okay, fine. But I could really use you as a wingwoman. Callie here is the best wingwoman God ever designed to put on this fair earth." Mark turned to Arizona, knowing just smitten Callie was with the marine and hoping to get her onside so he could properly plan his little escapade.

"I don't doubt it." Arizona replied sincerely. If she'd learnt anything about Callie, it was that she could sweet-talk the pants off Sponge-Bob.

"Sloan admitting he needs help in the romance department. Interesting…" Callie drawled, receiving a snort from the blonde haired, blue eyed beauty in return.

"What d'ya think, Arizona? You think that he deserves my help?"

"Hmm…" Arizona pretended to contemplate. As much as Mark got under her skin sometimes, he really wasn't that bad of a guy once you got to know him a bit. Plus, he had Callie as a friend, so he couldn't be all that bad.

"I still don't like how you had your hands all over my butt." Arizona grumbled, still a point of contention for her. She'd prided herself on the fact that no man had ever had the privilege of venturing south of her belt buckle, but now it seemed, Arizona was tainted goods.

"It was, and probably still is, a nice butt…" Mark recalled fondly, not doing himself any favours whatsoever.

Mark gulped at the stare both Arizona and Callie were fixing him with, although Callie couldn't help but agree with him. Of course, she'd only seen it through fabric, but they'd worked wonders with bicycle shorts and Lycra recently.

"C'mon blondie, I'm almost begging you here!" Mark tried the puppy dogs on her, but Arizona wasn't having any of it.

"I dunno… Callie and I were going to play poker later and…" Arizona began before being sharply cut-off.

"Strip poker? I'm in!" Mark nearly jumped for joy; no doubt the images he was creating in his mind were more than colourful.

"MARK!" Arizona and Callie chorused almost guiltily, getting a smirk from the older surgeon.

"No, just… No. We were going to play regular poker. Jeez, Sloan, you've got a dirty mind." Callie berated, feeling the warmth tickle at her cheeks.

"I'm just an optimist is all." Mark shrugged, everyone knew he was a manwhore and he couldn't help it if his mind always went to the… Best case scenarios.

"Sooo… L.T. What'll it be..?"

Arizona pretended to think about it again, wanting to keep Mark waiting just a little bit longer, despite already having made up her mind. Callie had been working around the clock recently, what with trying to create artificial cartilage - which Callie had told her might be able to allow Arizona to regain full functionality in her leg, if only she could get it to work - and having, what Arizona was led to believe, a group of chimpanzees for interns to supervise.

"Okay then…" Arizona conceded, watching the greying surgeon slap the Latina heartily on the back in victory, smiling like a goofball.

"Yes, thank you, thank you, Phoenix, I owe you one!"

Making his way through the hall in the opposite direction, the surgeon did, what Callie could only describe as his 'happy dance'.

Turning back around and resuming their leisurely pace to Arizona's room, Callie pondered Mark's new nickname for Arizona and let out a small laugh.

"What?" Arizona asked, a smile in her voice that Callie knew was mirrored on her face, despite not actually being able to see it.

"I was just thinking…" Callie replied absently, slowing down as they neared Arizona's door.

"Uh-Oh!" Arizona joked, getting a playful swat on the shoulder in return.

"Phoenix as a nickname is pretty fitting, I mean you were kind of reborn in the fact that you practically rose from the ashes… Or explosion, whatever, and Phoenix is in Arizona…"

"Not really." Arizona replied as they reached her room. Opening the door, Arizona wheeled herself into the room and turned to meet the furrowed angry brow of the beautiful Calliope Torres.

"I mean, yeah, I suppose I did 'rise from the ashes' that bit is pretty fitting, but the Phoenix, Arizona bit, nah-uh. I wasn't named after the state, Calliope."

"Oh." The Latina replied, eyebrows furrowed now in confusion, not because she thought she was going to have to have another one of _those_ conversations with the marine.

"I'm surprised my Dad didn't tell you the story when he met you. He usually tells it to anyone who'll listen."

Arizona pushed herself up in the wheelchair, making herself comfortable to share one of the most important stories in her life.

"I was named for a battleship. The USS Arizona. My grandfather was serving on the Arizona when the Japanese bombed pearl harbour and he saved 19 men before he drowned. Pretty much everything my father did his whole life was about honouring that sacrifice." Arizona recited slightly shakily. Even though she knew the story, it was still powerful.

"Woah…" Was all Callie could manage. She'd always just assumed that Arizona was named for the State, but how wrong she was. Callie had known that Arizona's family were career military, but she hadn't realised quite how much.

"He was a hero and I'm proud of him. I'm proud to be able to call him my grandfather, even though I never got to meet him." Arizona had wished day in and day out that she could have met that man, the man who, indirectly, shaped her own hopes and dreams, the man who made her heart swell with pride to know that she shared the same name as him.

"Just like you." Callie whispered, a tear welling in the corner of her russet eye.

A comfortable silence filled the room as Arizona remembered all the times her father had recounted the tale to her as a child. It was her favourite, and she'd often get him to tell her it before she went to bed. Callie, slotted another piece of the puzzle that was Arizona Robbins in the infinitely large jigsaw puzzle in her mind.

"You sure you don't mind me going out with Mark tonight?" Callie asked quietly, looking into Arizona's eyes to make sure the blonde's reply was sincere.

"Calliope, it's fine, I want you to go. You deserve to let your hair down a little bit."

"You can come if you want, I can take you…" Callie tried to plead with Arizona with her eyes, but Arizona just shook her head gently.

"I doubt a sober chick in a wheelchair is going to go down a treat with Mark, Calliope, especially when he's trying to pick up girls. Besides, he'd be no match for the Robbins charm." Arizona winked in reply, and Callie could do nothing but agree. That face was deadly.

Arizona wished she could go and she'd love nothing more than a drink right now, but she was still on the morphine, and alcohol and painkillers usually weren't that good of a combination, especially when a good few doctors had spent hours upon hours keeping her alive. Besides, she was pretty tired out from the torture session earlier as it was.

"Okay. But only if you are sure." Callie attempted again. She wanted to make sure Arizona was not just 100%, but at least 110% sure that she didn't mind Callie blowing her off.

"I'm sure, Calliope, my God!" Arizona cried, shooing her out of the room with her weapon of a wheelchair.

"Have fun and do some dancing for me, okay?"

"Definitely" Callie replied. If Arizona wanted her to dance, she was going to dance her sweet Mexican ass off.

* * *

"_Arizona…" A distant voice called her name happily causing Arizona to snap her head around at the sound._

"_Arizona!" The voice repeated, Arizona moving quietly and quickly towards the sound of the mysterious voice._

"_Babe, come here!" The same voice added making Arizona's heart race._

_But Arizona didn't want to open the door. She didn't want to know what was behind it, however happy it sounded, because 9 times out of 10, what was behind the door in her dreams wasn't happy at all._

_Before she could open the door, it flew open, revealing the most beautiful sight Arizona had ever seen. Calliope Torres, a vision in white with her gleaming black hair in the most intricate, beautiful up-do Arizona had ever seen._

"_There you are, I wondered where you'd gotten to." Callie smiled magnificently, the white of her teeth matching the white of the dress, which juxtaposed her tanned skin perfectly._

"_Hey."_

"_Hey yourself…" Arizona managed, though she was sure she was drooling and her jaw was somewhere around her ankles._

"_You look…" Arizona tried to find the words for the breath taking Latina in front of her, but nothing was good enough._

_Callie gave a hearty laugh at the stupefied blonde and kissed her sweetly on the lips, as if they had their whole lives to do that._

"_You're not so bad yourself, Yuma." Callie replied, moving her body towards Arizona, whose mouth began to salivate at the closeness. Callie guided Arizona's hands towards her hips, leaning forward until the Latina's mouth was lightly touching the marine's ear._

"_Or should I say wife?"_

"ARIZONA! OH MY GOD, THERE YOU ARE, I COULDN'T FIND YOU ANYWHERE!"

Arizona bolted upright in her bed, her arms out ready to protect herself at any would be attacker before taking in the sight of Callie, dressed to the nines in a very nice black cocktail dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, especially around the hips. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, and eyes were mesmerising with hues of gold and black around them.

"Callie?" Arizona asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, dream now long forgotten.

"What are you doing here? And what time is it?"

Arizona ran a hand through her tousled hair as she checked her phone for the time. 0247hrs. Sounded about right.

"I CAME TO TELL YOU." Callie shouted, obviously used to the hustle and bustle of a busy nightclub.

"Sshh…" Arizona stage whispered. "You'll wake the neighbours."

"Oops. Sorry." Callie replied, mimicking Arizona's not so quiet whisper before continuing her sentence.

"I came to tell you that I think you are beautiful and that I really like you. And I mean, like you, like you."

Arizona smiled her best Robbins smile, dimples almost hurting. Even if the Latina was drunk, she couldn't help but feel her heart swell at Callie's confession, besides, alcohol only lowers inhibitions right?

"I really like you, like you too, Calliope." Arizona admitted truthfully. It felt so good to get that off her chest, to actually tell Callie how she felt, even if she'd probably have to repeat it again in the future. Arizona didn't mind, she'd tell the Latina that as many times as she wanted her to and for as long as she wanted.

"You do?" Callie replied, almost disbelieving.

"I do." Arizona reaffirmed, complete conviction in her voice, leaving the Latina with no room for doubt.

"Oh thank God." Callie breathed, swaying gently to the right and knocking over one of the IV stands she no longer needed.

"Shit." There was no way Callie was going to be able to pick that up and stay upright herself.

Arizona just giggled at her friend's inebriated state. She was pretty sure that the brunette wouldn't remember a word of this in the morning, judging on the way she was leaning from item of furniture to item of furniture to eventually plop herself unceremoniously on the bed next to Arizona, face down into the pillow.

"I love your dimples, they're soo cute!"

A mocha hand came up to Arizona's face and began pulling at her dimples, Callie giggling like a school girl all the while.

"Ooh, your skin is soo soft! How do you keep it soo soft?" Callie cooed drunkenly.

"Umm… Sunshine and desert sands?" Arizona laughed, wondering exactly how much the Latina had had to drink, and what had happened to Mark.

"You comfy there Callie?"

"Mmmhhmm…" Callie responded, moving her body so that she could face Arizona and almost falling off the bed in the process.

Quickly snaking an arm around Callie's back to prevent the surgeon from taking the plunge, Arizona found herself mere centimetres from the Latina's, the alcohol on her breath wrinkling Arizona's nose.

"You been drinking tequila?" Arizona asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Yup." Callie yawned one of the biggest yawns Arizona had ever seen, the blonde widening her eyes at the scene.

" 'm tired."

"I can see that." Arizona replied, the smile never leaving her lips.

"Night." Callie stated, kissing Arizona lightly on the lips before pulling the blonde into a vice like grip of a bear hug.

Momentarily dazed by the chaste kiss, Arizona peered down at the body of the surgeon next to her, then at the door of her private room.

"Wait, Callie, you can't…"

Too late. The woman of her dreams was already dead to the world next to her, the soft snores emanating from the body confirming Arizona's fears.

Disentangling a hand and setting the alarm on her phone for 0600hrs, an hour before the usual morning rounds and the first visitors to her room, Arizona kissed Callie gently on the forehead and stroked a lock of loose hair covering the surgeon's face back behind her ear.

"Goodnight, my goddess, sleep tight."

* * *

**A/N 2: Deb from Napoleon Dynamite is in Season 9? This I must see. **

**Sorry if there are any glaring mistakes in this chapter, I was really sleepy as I proof-read it. I know. Not professional at all. ;)  
**

**It has been clinically proven that reviews cause fanfic writers to type 20-25% more quickly. Lol.**

**Thanks again for reading, hope you're enjoying the weekend! Much looove!**


	7. In vino veritas

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: The truth is in the wine/tequila! Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: ****In vino veritas**

'_Mmhmm, Arizona…' Callie moaned, loving the way the blonde could get her so worked up with just the smallest of touches._

_The smaller woman was currently nipping playfully at her earlobe, leaving a trail of wet kisses down her jawline before bringing her sapphire eyes level with the Latina's._

'_I love you.' The blonde stated simply, easily, the smile Callie had fallen in love with the first second she'd seen it making Arizona's dimples pop perfectly._

'_I love you too." Callie replied passionately, a rush of endorphins flooding through her central nervous system as Arizona's cool milky hands cupped her face tenderly._

_It was all Callie could manage to stay standing as Arizona's lips closed in agonisingly slowly towards her own, waiting in fervent anticipation at the contact._

"_Calliope" Arizona murmured, just millimetres from her lips, teasing the brunette before an explosion of colour detonated behind Callie's closed eyelids._

* * *

"… Arizona…" Callie mumbled whilst still firmly a resident in the land of nod, a small smile gracing her plump lips.

Arizona had to stifle a laugh. What was she doing to Callie in that dream? Not that she was complaining per se, but she'd much rather be the one who was making Callie call her name in the early hours of the morning than a dreamland version of herself.

"lub… oo…" Another sleepy mumble left Callie's soft lips.

'_Woah… Did she just say? No, of course not… she couldn't have, right? She was dreaming…' _

Arizona shrugged it off. She could have been saying that to any number of people, or animals or items of food or whatever… Arizona had once had the weirdest dream where she was madly in love with this great big jelly doughnut woman. Man, she'd tasted good…

_*JITTERBUG! JITTERBUG!*_

Arizona physically jumped at the sudden interruption, her phone dancing its way to the edge of the table beside her bed. She had nothing on Callie, though. So shocked was the Latina, she literally jumped out of the bed, ass hitting the hard floor with a smack.

_*I was dreaming, but I should have been with you instead!*_

"Oh my God! Calliope!" Arizona cried, immediately peering over the side of the bed, her eyes being met by the Latina curled up in the foetal position, hands clamped firmly around her ears.

_*I don't want to miss it when you hit that high!*_

"Aargh! Turn it off, turn it off!" Callie moaned, the perkiness of the song this early in the morning almost enough to make Callie homicidal. Apt, as it also made the throbbing in her head turn into more of a stabbing.

"I'm going to kill you Theodora Altman!" Arizona grumbled, fumbling around frantically with her phone until she managed to swipe her phone unlocked and shut the alarm off, slumping back into her bed in relief.

"It's usually Arcade Fire… Teddy must have thought it would be fun to change it." Arizona tried to explain.

"She also changed her ringtone to Barry White, so…"

Arizona hadn't needed to use her alarm up until now, she was naturally an early riser, and seeing as she didn't really have any kind of pressing schedule to keep, Arizona had been enjoying some much overdue lay-ins.

"I'm going to kill that woman." Callie snarled, lying flat out on the floor next to Arizona's bed in her black dress, the way Callie was spread out beneath her making Arizona's mouth water.

Usually Arizona would have just bought a new phone instead of getting Teddy to send her her old one from Afghanistan, but Arizona liked this phone, it had been with her through thick and thin, and survived, just like she had. It also still had a couple photos of Tim on it she hadn't gotten round to backing up yet.

"She's a bit of a sadist, huh?" Callie mumbled, sitting up slowly, wincing at the pain in her head.

"Yep." Arizona agreed smirking when she realised Callie wouldn't have to wait long to get her wish. Teddy had phoned her a couple of days ago saying she was going to come and visit her in the next few days after seeing the parents, their company's tour having finished a couple of weeks back – fortunately with no more casualties.

"You need a hand?" Arizona offered her soft hands to the hungover Latina, enjoying the warmth of the brunette's hands on her naturally cool skin.

"Thanks…" Callie sighed, plopping herself down into the chair just off to the side of Arizona's bed. It wasn't that comfortable – since when had hospital furniture ever been – but it was 100 x better than the hard, cold floor.

"What am I doing here?" Callie questioned, her eyes widening as she finally realised just exactly where she was.

She'd been in Arizona's bed the entire night… ish…

"Wait, woah, umm.. Oh My God…" Callie blurted, her eyes instantly looking herself up and down. She was still fully clothed, even both her shoes were still present and correct.

"Nothing happened, Calliope. It's fine." Arizona stifled another laugh, taking in the panicked look in the Latina's eyes.

"You really don't remember?" Arizona quizzed as she looked into Callie's slightly bloodshot eyes.

"I remember doing some shots, lots of dancing and Mark shouting something at me. Then he disappeared, and I couldn't find him, so I left and…"

"Oh My God." Callie moaned, covering her face with her hands. Now she remembered. Remembered how she'd gushed to Arizona, telling her how she liked her and had assaulted her dimples before everything had gone black. She was never going to be able to live this down.

Had she kissed Arizona good night.?!

"Arizona! I'm soo, soo sorry!" Callie chanced a peak through her fingers at Arizona, who was just sitting there, grinning at her.

"It's fine, Calliope, I actually found it quite... Endearing. You are a very cute drunk." Arizona couldn't help but laugh at the surgeon's antics last night. She was definitely going to take Callie out and get her drunk at the first opportunity she got.

"Great…" Callie drawled, wrinkling her nose as it caught a whiff of her own breath. Definitely tequila.

"Well, I'm just going to go…" Callie drawled, making her way quickly to the door, unable to look her friend in the eye any longer. God, how she hated alchohol!

"And die of embarrassment."

Callie left to the sound of Arizona's magical laughter, making her way down the hall in a not quite walk of shame. She didn't know what time it was, but she sure was glad there was no-one about to further increase her embarrassment.

Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

"FUCK!" Arizona shouted, stumbling in her tentative step, having to save herself from falling with the railings on either side of her. A pair of strong hands came to hold her steady as Arizona found her feet again.

"You're doing great, L.T. Just get to the end of this rep, and we'll take a break, okay?" Adam told her gently. She'd been pushing herself hard today. She was bored of waiting around in a bed, she wanted freedom and she wanted out of this hospital.

Arizona was getting frustrated at how painfully slowly she had to take this 'obstacle course'. During her last two sessions, she had had Callie there to help take her mind of the pain and the drudgery, but Arizona hadn't seen the brunette beauty since she departed her room early this morning.

"I just want to be able to at least walk to the goddamned toilet on my own!" Arizona growled. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that was making her grumpy, but Arizona didn't think so. It was pretty pathetic when she thought about it, that her entire mood/day hung on one person. One extremely beautiful, intelligent and miraculous person with caramel skin.

"I know, but these things take time, believe me, I've been doing this for a while now. You've got the drive, and that's the main thing. You'll get there L.T." Adam gave Arizona a friendly pat on the back before she began on her mission again in earnest.

"Thanks, Corporal." Arizona replied sincerely. She always needed someone to bring her back to Earth when she gets all worked up about nothing like this. Tim and Teddy had done their fair share of talking her down, Callie too.

Thinking about it, Arizona realised she really was quite lucky to have such a good group of friends, and such a loving family to help her through life, and what Teddy and Tim had referred to as her 'Episodes'.

Maybe Callie was just busy in surgery or something, and hadn't had time to come and see her.

"There's my little soldier!" The voice she'd grown up falling asleep to boomed, making Arizona halt in her stride, turning her head as far round as she could to take in the site of her father in full dress uniform. Turning her head back to Adam, she barked a laugh at him. There he was standing to full attention, back as straight as an arrow and feet almost melting into one another. Some habits die hard.

"As you were, marine." Her father bellowed in his best official voice making Arizona chuckle once more – he loved it.

"Hi, daddy." Arizona squealed, always happy to see a member of her family. Moving as fast as she could to the end of the railings without falling over, Arizona held her hand out to her father, who had moved to meet her, rather than going for a hug. She was pretty sweaty, and dress uniforms were a bitch to get dry-cleaned.

Looking down at the proffered hand, the Colonel gave his daughter a quizzical look and immediately wrapped her up in one of his infamous bear hugs.

Adam, seeing that he wasn't going to be getting any further with his planned PT session quietly slipped away to give his patient some privacy, Arizona giving him a quick wave behind her father's back as she inhaled the scent that smelt exactly like home.

"What am I? Chopped liver?!" Another voice came from behind Arizona. Immediately locking her azure eyes with her father's almost identical ones, Arizona asked an unspoken question. One that Daniel Robbins replied in the affirmative.

"Teddy…" Arizona whispered tentatively. Of all the people she'd missed from her company, or back home, it was Teddy she'd missed most of all. They'd kept in contact as much as they could, but that was nothing compared to actually hearing your best friend's voice in person, or actually seeing them there in front of you.

"Hey, Hawks." Teddy replied quietly, Arizona turning in her father's arms and re-establishing her hold on the railings for support.

There she was, the same old Teddy Altman, with legs that stretched on for miles and cheek bones carved by Michelangelo himself. She was more tanned than Arizona remembered, but apart from that, Teddy hadn't changed one bit. She never did.

Racing forward in a pace that really was too fast for her, Arizona almost hit the deck head first, her feet twisting beneath her, legs too weak to take the strain, but fell into the waiting arms of her best friend instead before her legs gave out totally on her. Luckily, Teddy's legs were strong enough for both of them, Arizona clutching onto her friend as though she might float away.

"I missed you." Teddy breathed into Arizona's shoulder, holding Arizona just as tightly. Arizona couldn't remember a time since they'd met that they'd been apart for so long.

"I've missed you too, Teds." Arizona replied in kind, she knew there was so much that Teddy wanted to say to her, but it was never really their style to gush to each other. Besides, Arizona already knew exactly what Teddy was thinking, so she really didn't have to say it out loud. It would just embarrass them both.

"You're an idiot." Teddy laughed lightly, punching Arizona hard on the shoulder, trying to lift a mood that neither of them were completely comfortable with.

"Ouch! Daaad! Teddy hit me." Arizona wailed overly dramatically, before landing a square punch to Teddy's shoulder in reply.

"Arizona… Theodora…" Her father warned in the same tone he'd used so many times when they were little. He'd taken a step back to allow the two friend a bit of privacy at their reunion, but had returned with a wheelchair for his daughter.

Settling down in the chair – she could never get comfortable in these things – with Teddy helping her down slowly, Arizona's father took the handles at the back of the chair, but Arizona waved him off.

"No. I can do it." Arizona stated sternly. She didn't need someone to push her around, she could still use her arms. She also didn't want to admit to her father and best friend that Callie was the only one who she ever let push her wheelchair. Teddy would have had a field-day with that one, and there was no way that Arizona's mom wouldn't find out about it if her dad did. As far as Arizona could tell, she was already planning the wedding.

"I've got this."

* * *

"So, what? You're just going to ignore her all day?" Mark asked incredulously, not believing that Callie Torres was going to be able to stay away from the blonde bombshell for a whole day. He'd bet his sex life on it.

"I had back to back surgeries this morning." Callie protested, trying to make up an excuse for why she had ditched meeting Arizona for their usual PT rendezvous. Acknowledging the look on Mark's face - the 'don't give me that bull-crap face'; Callie slumped back into her chair in the research lab. She really did need to start making some headway with her cartilage research…

"And yes."

"What?! It couldn't have been that bad!" Mark exclaimed. To him, it sounded like the alcohol had done Callie nothing but favours. Callie liked Arizona, Arizona liked Callie, so what was the problem?

"No, Mark. It was worse! I stumbled into her room in the middle of the night, woke her up, told her that I liked her, liked her and then promptly passed out on her bed. How is that not bad?" Callie still felt the urge to curl up into a ball and hide for a month when she thought of what she'd done. Arizona had told her she was cute, but…

"She said it too, right?" Mark asked, quickly getting tired of this game. Callie was being an idiot, and he wasn't scared to call her out on it – anyone who spent two minutes together with those two could tell that they were into each other.

"Yeah, at least I think so… But I was drunk and…" Callie grumbled. She was never going to drink again, ever.

"No buts, Calliope Iphegenia Torres!" Mark thumped his hand on the table Callie had been working at, some of her carefully piled notes flying artistically into the air.

"Hey, quiet with the name there, Mr Loudmouth." Callie whispered. It was bad enough that Mark had discovered her full name a couple of years ago after countersigning her passport renewal documents, but she definitely didn't want anyone else in the lab, the hospital, or the whole world to find out.

"You get your ass out of here and talk to that smoking hot marine before I drag you there myself. Comprende?" Mark asked in what Callie could only describe as the worst attempt at any kind of Spanish accent she'd ever heard.

"Sí, me voy a ir!" Callie replied fluently in pitch perfect Spanish, beginning to stride purposefully down the hall. She was going to face her fear. Be fearless, badass Calliope Torres. Yeah, right!

"Moron." Callie called over her shoulder to her friend, hearing him grumble as she headed off to her social suicide.

* * *

So this was it. Callie was at the door. Her door.

Opening the door in question slowly, Callie heard voices. One of which she didn't recognise. Not yet knowing whether she wanted to intrude on Arizona's conversation, Callie decided she'd hang back a bit, keeping the door slightly ajar so she could hear the conversation, of course.

"No, Arizona, it was you who wanted to do it." Teddy protested, adamant that the plan that had landed them with two long months of being grounded was Arizona's doing. Their parents really didn't want them to smoke…

"No, no, Tim told me that it was your idea." Arizona threw back, pointing her finger for added emphasis.

"Well, he told me it was yours!" Teddy replied, pointing accusatorily at the blonde haired, blue eyed vision opposite her, before a wry smile appeared on her lips.

The two women simultaneously burst out into laughter, whilst the Colonel just smiled lightly, a far-away look in his eye.

Wiping a tear from her eye as she got her laughter under control, Arizona noticed the door was slightly ajar, a lock of unmistakable raven hair just visible from the other side.

"Calliope?" Arizona's voice came from the opposite side of the door, making Callie cringe slightly.

Realising that she couldn't just stand there or pretend that she'd never been there in the first place; Callie confidently pushed the door open, smiling involuntarily once she saw the blonde's sapphire eyes raking her up and down from her place in her wheelchair.

"Hey…" Arizona smiled softly.

"Hey…" Callie replied in kind, the smile on her lips entirely genuine.

"Long time, no see."

"Yeah, sorry about PT. I had back to back surgeries this morning. Oh! You'll love this. I got to do an operation on this guy who'd been mauled by a lion!" Callie rambled with a hint of nervousness mixed in with excitement as she remembered the bizarre case from this morning. She couldn't believe it when the Chief had paged her to the pit to treat a man with lion inflicted injuries. She'd thought it was a prank by some smart ass intern, or Mark, I mean, who in Seattle owns a lion?! It was definitely going down on her list of most bizarre surgeries to date.

"A lion?!" Arizona squealed. Nothing exciting had happened in this hospital since the cafeteria had mixed up the raspberry jello with the strawberry and all hell had broken loose (because everyone loves jello).

"Yeah!" Callie exclaimed gleefully, remembering the tale the guy had told them in the ER.

"His girlfriend wanted him to meet her 'cat'! And guess what we found in his chest cavity."

"No… You didn't…" Arizona could barely contain her excitement, there was no way it could actually be what she thought, that would be way too cool!

"A lion tooth!" Callie and Arizona said in unison, a sense of awe filling Arizona's voice, matching the look in her eyes whilst her now forgotten guests just chuckled.

The clearing of a throat pulled the two out of their private conversation, both having forgotten that they had company. Very important company.

"Oh, right. Sorry" Arizona bit her lip guiltily before dolling out the belated introductions.

"Callie, you already know my father…" Arizona motioned to the Colonel, who was sitting just beside Arizona's unoccupied bed.

"Dr. Torres, it's a pleasure to see you again." Daniel smiled, standing from his seat and giving the surgeon a firm handshake.

"Likewise, Colonel. I trust you and Barbara are both well? And, please, it's Callie"

"_Barbara?"_ Teddy mouthed to Arizona, who just kicked her mousy haired friend lightly in return, eliciting another smirk from Arizona's fellow marine.

"Yes, thank you, Callie, we are both very well." Daniel replied sincerely before retaking his seat, smiling all the while.

"And this person who keeps trying to get me in trouble, is Theodora Altman." Arizona introduced, patting her friend, who was perched on the end of her bed, on the knee.

"Teddy, this is Dr. Calliope Torres." Arizona couldn't help the dimpled smile that appeared on her face as she said the name.

"Way to go with the 'Theodora' there, Hawks. Thanks for that." Teddy groaned, sending Arizona a harsh stare.

"No problem." Arizona replied gleefully. Payback was a bitch, especially when you messed with the song on her alarm clock.

"Seconded. Except with Calliope, instead of Theodora. Obviously..." Callie chuckled nervously, feeling the need to ramble to cover up those pesky nerves.

"My Dad and this one are the only people who ever call me Calliope. Everyone else just calls me Callie."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Callie. Hawks always did have a thing for full names. I think the only person she ever spared from that little quirk was Tim." Teddy recalled wistfully, taking the surgeon's hand in hers.

"And you, Teddy. Arizona has told me so much about you." Callie replied honestly. It almost felt as though Callie knew the woman already, the amount Arizona went on about her.

"All good, I hope!" Teddy exclaimed, knowing all too well the stories Arizona liked to tell people about her – usually the most embarrassing, most unceremonious, and most ridiculous stories she could find. And she wouldn't have it any other way because it's exactly the same thing she did to Arizona.

"Of course it was all good Old Man! What kind of friend do you take me for?" Arizona cried in mock hurt, using one of her favourite nicknames for her friend that Teddy just so happened to loath.

Mainly Arizona had told Callie about all the times Teddy, Tim and herself had gotten in trouble or had done something stupid, or that time during basic training when Teddy had fallen head first into a bog… But Arizona wasn't about to tell Teddy that anytime soon.

"A really bad one who thrived on getting me, an innocent bystander to your crazy antics, in trouble." Teddy replied never missing a beat, ready with the playful banter her and Arizona had always been so good at. They loved each other really…

"I think we just established that they were Tim's crazy antics, not mine." Arizona protested. She had no idea how it had taken the two of them this long to realise that Tim was the mastermind behind all of 'their'… more adventurous escapades, especially since it was such a Tim thing to do.

"Touché." Teddy chuckled thoughtfully.

It had hit them both hard when Tim had passed, but Arizona seemed to have taken it the hardest. Sure, some people might think it a bit weird that the fiancée had dealt better with the loss than the sister, but Tim and Arizona had always been so much more than just siblings. They'd been together their whole lives, depended on each other day in day out, and even though Teddy had been like family to them, there was still a good 9 years she had missed out on. It kind of used to freak Teddy out, actually, the way the two would know exactly what the other was doing, or when the other needed help without even so much as a word. They had a strange twin-like bond, despite being born years apart.

"I'll come back later…" Callie said, feeling slightly out of place in the conversation and wanting Arizona to be able to spend as much time as she wanted and needed with her oldest friend.

"No, Calliope, don't be silly." Arizona admonished gently, she'd been wanting to see Callie all day, talk about what happened last night, and she wasn't about to let her disappear again.

"What was it?"

Callie looked down at her feet, rubbing out an imaginary stain from the floor below her. Why was she so nervous!

"I just wanted to talk to you… y'know… aboutway astlay ightnay." Callie emphasised, hoping beyond hope that the blonde understood pig Latin. She really didn't want the Colonel or Teddy to catch wind of a conversation that made her look like a drunk, which she really usually wasn't, and a love sick sap, which she was, but that's beside the point.

But if Arizona knew pig Latin…

'_Shit…'_

It was a fair bet that Teddy did too. Looking over at Arizona's friend, the wry smile and sparkle in Teddy's eyes said it all, making Callie blush furiously. This really wasn't a conversation she wanted to have in front of Arizona's dad and the best friend that's she'd only met a couple of minutes ago.

"Oh. Okay then… Umm…"Arizona began, looking around at her present company. Now she realised why Callie wasn't forthcoming in spilling the beans.

"C'mon, Teddy. We should probably go and get something to eat, it's getting late. Callie, could you tell us where the cafeteria is?" Daniel asked, reading Callie's hesitation and his daughter's change in mood and sensing that this conversation probably wasn't something that he really wanted to hear.

Arizona gave her father a nod in thanks, knowing that he had just used the cafeteria as an excuse to give Arizona and Callie a bit of privacy.

"Sure" Callie replied, giving the two soldiers detailed directions before opening the door to let them out.

"Wait!" Arizona shouted, just as Teddy reached the door.

"I just wanted to say thank you for changing my alarm, Teds. I LOVE Wham!" Arizona said sarcastically, her fellow marine just winking in reply before closing the door behind her.

"So…" Arizona smiled sincerely at Callie, searching the brunette's chocolate eyes for any clue as to the mood this conversation was going to take. She looked apprehensive, but open. This conversation could go either way.

"What did you want to talk about?" Arizona prompted lightly, seeing Callie was having trouble starting off the conversation, although Arizona didn't know why. She didn't regret anything that had been said last night.

'_But what if Callie did?' _Arizona swallowed deeply.

"Arizona… I just wanted to know…" Callie began before inhaling deeply. She needed to settle the nerves she had in the pit of her stomach, slow down the heart in her chest that was beating at 100 miles a minute before she could continue.

"That if what you said last night… If you really meant it or whether you just said that because I was drunk and in your room and…"

_BEEP BEEP_

"Shit." Callie cursed the God of bad timing as she quickly clipped her pager off of her belt. She frowned, holding her pager up to Arizona, meeting the blonde's curious gaze.

"Code Silver? What the hell is that?"

* * *

**A/N 2: Anyone guess what this means? I took the code from the HASC guidelines… **

**I know cliffhangers are the spawn of Satan, so I'll do my best to get the next chapter out tomorrow – I've already gotten some of it written! **

**Thanks for reading, and for the reviews/lifeblood! You guys are awesome :D**


	8. Vincit qui se vincit

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: I try to make sure that I reply to all the reviews that I get if they aren't guest reviews or have blocked PMs or whatever and I am actually able to reply – because every review represents precious time that you guys have taken out of your day to read my little story. You guys have taken the time to leave me some feedback, so it's the least I can do to say thanks or answer any questions or whatever. I do admit, however, I am sometimes a bit slow at it! Sorry!**

**We finally get to find out what a 'code silver' is… hmm… Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't make any money from it, but still love it anyway.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: ****Vincit qui se vincit**

"What?" Arizona replied, her hackles raising instantly. She knew a whole load of military codes and terms and abbreviations, but her expertise started and ended with that. All Arizona knew was that when someone issues a code that no-one remembers, it's because they never use it, and they never use it because whatever that code means, is really, really bad.

"I know code red, code blue, code white, code black… But I can't remember a code silver…" Callie continued, oblivious to the tension had suddenly appeared in every sinew of the blonde, her body on high alert, ready and waiting.

_BEEP BEEP_

Callie looked down at her pager once more, her eyes widening at the text displayed on the small screen.

"Code Silver - Lockdown…" Callie breathed. This definitely was not good.

"Can you put that on silent?" Arizona asked, manoeuvring her wheelchair to the window and peering out. It was a wasteland out there. Eerie, when you compared it to the usual hustle and bustle of the hospital.

Arizona had just finished pulling the blinds down in the room, making sure that no-one could see the room was occupied from the outside when Callie finally looked up from her pager the look of fear in her eyes sending a shiver down Arizona's spine.

"What… What about Mark? Your dad and Teddy? They're out there… They…" Callie faltered, her mouth unable to form the words her brain was shouting at her, screaming at her.

"Mark's a lot of things, but he's not an idiot, he's smart, Calliope. He knows how to keep himself safe, and my dad and Teddy… They're trained marines with over 45 years experience between them. They'll be fine, Calliope. They'll be fine." Arizona repeated, more for herself than Callie. They had to be okay. After Tim, she needed them to be okay.

"Besides, we don't know what a code silver is right? I mean, I know what I think it is, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is what I think it is, right? I mean… It can't be…" Callie rambled hoping beyond hope that it didn't mean what she thought it meant, because things like that only happened in movies or on primetime TV shows, and they never ended well.

"I don't know, Callie, but…" There was this feeling Arizona had in her gut, the same one she got every time she was about to enter the fray in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Callie's mouth went dry at her shortened name on Arizona's lips. She could see the tension in the blonde's shoulders, the way she was looking around the room as if she was assessing its strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages.

"I want you to sit down, below the window, okay?" Arizona instructed coolly, silently cursing the fact that the door didn't have a lock. Turning her chair around to face the stunned surgeon, Arizona softened. When stuff got weird, or she felt fear start to take hold of her, she reverted to her training. It was methodical, logical, calming. But Callie didn't have this kind of training…

"Whoever sent out the pager message must have called the police or whoever they need to call, so we're just going to sit tight, okay?"

"Okay." Callie whispered, the flash of shiny metal sitting proudly on Arizona's chest helping to quell her rising fear. Arizona had this under control. All Callie had to do was trust her.

"Okay." Callie repeated with more conviction, doing as Arizona instructed. All they needed to do was stay in the room and wait out the storm…

_BANG!_

…and if Arizona was anything, she was a good man in a storm.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Callie?!" Mark shouted into the massing crowd outside the hospital. A couple of scrub nurses who had heard him shook their heads sympathetically.

'_Dammit.' _

He'd been lucky. Down in the ER when the code silver had been initiated, which had instantly been followed by a rush of movement transferring critical patients back onto any available buses to be taken to another facility, Mark had been in the rush of people evacuated before the lockdown had been instated by the feds. Yes, you heard right, the FBI. That's how fucked up this whole situation was.

"Shots fired, repeat, confirmed shots fired. Civilian casualties confirmed." A nearby police radio blared before the officer could silence the device.

Mark's heart had dropped into his stomach.

"Bailey!" Mark yelled at the small woman, making her jump in surprise. Getting a stern look from the indomitable surgeon, Mark did his best to look apologetic and lowered his voice.

"Have you seen Torres?"

Shaking her head meekly and giving Mark a comforting pat on the back, she returned on her way, obviously looking for someone herself.

Finding himself at the edge of the sidewalk, Mark threw himself to the floor, knees against his chest as he held his head in both hands.

She's his best friend…

"She's with the marine." Mark chanted his new mantra, holding out hope that his best friend was indeed with the blonde who'd been blown up and had survived.

"She's with the Marine."

* * *

"Arizona..." Callie gasped, the sound echoing ominously through the deserted corridors.

"What was that?!"

Arizona knew exactly what that was. Pistol fire - most probably a .45 caliber, semi-automatic pistol. A compact model, if she had to guess. Easy to hide under your everyday clothing, but still packs a punch. And it wasn't far away. Arizona worked it out in her head. Maximum, the shooter would have around 15 rounds, including if they'd also loaded one in the chamber. Enough to wreak a lot of havoc.

"It was a pistol." Arizona gulped. She could have lied, could have told Callie something, anything else, but the look in her eyes told Arizona she already knew what it was – and telling her it was something else, wasn't just an insult to her intelligence, but was downright dangerous. How could you expect someone to properly prepare for something if you lied to them? Fear was your worst enemy, but the truth was your greatest ally.

Callie shook involuntarily at Arizona's words. She'd never heard a gun fired before, except on the television, and that was nothing like the real thing. It was so much louder, abrupt and chilling than Callie would have ever expected.

The sound of a door opening and closing gave Callie a moment's hope. Perhaps whoever the person was was moving away, leaving; but Arizona wasn't so sure.

The sound of the door opening and closing again was followed by a door much closer this time. Fears confirmed, Arizona checked the time on her watch.

_BANG_

Another gunshot.

"Shit…" Arizona growled quietly. She'd banked on the fact that the shooter knew where they were going, knew what they wanted, who they wanted, but it seemed she was wrong if 3 shots in almost as many minutes told her anything.

Peering carefully through the gap between the blinds and the window Arizona counted the number of doors in this section of the corridor. 5 until you reached the door of her room, 6 including it. Sweeping the scene in front of her quickly once more, an object poking out from around the corner caught Arizona's eye…

There! A boot, on the ground, like the ones security guards wear. But not standing on the ground… It was sticking right up into the air, like feet do when you're sleeping…

Arizona shuddered slightly before she shook it off. That's what guns did best.

"Callie…" Arizona began, a plan instantly formulating in her head. It may be slightly crazy, but at this point, she couldn't think of anything else to do. The little security they had in this room had gone the minute the lunatic with the gun had started clearing the floor room by room. So this was it. It all hung on the answer Callie gave her.

"Calliope…" Arizona repeated when she didn't get a reply, turning her gaze to the Latina.

Her eyes began to tear up at the sight. Callie was sitting, motionless, her knees tucked into her chest as she stared blankly at the wall opposite her, a single tear tracing its way down her perfect cheek.

Ejecting herself gently from her wheelchair to get herself onto the floor next to the freaked out Latina, Arizona took the brunette's head in her hands, turning her head so that she could look into Callie's gorgeous eyes.

"It's going to be alright." Arizona cooed softly, brushing a loose lock of hair behind the surgeon's ear before gently wiping the tear from her cheek with the pad of her thumb.

Callie rested her forehead on Arizona's, letting out a shaky breath. Just being close to the smaller woman helped calm her nerves…

So much for being badass Calliope Torres, huh?

"You don't know that, Arizona." Callie replied quietly lowering her eyes, the feel of the warm breath on her cheek making Arizona's eyes flutter closed.

"I do." Arizona contested, using Callie's chin to bring the Latina's eyes back up to hers.

"Do you want to know how?"

The Latina simply nodded lightly in reply, sniffing away the threat of any more tears.

"Because they've got to get through me before they get to you, and I already beat the bullet with my name on it."

"That was an RPG, not a bullet." Callie observed, a small smile coming to her lips in spite of herself.

"What, so they don't count anymore?!" Arizona cried quietly, enjoying the feeling of the Latina laughing softly against her.

"That's no fair! It's like saying, there's a 9mm out there with your name on it, and a .45 and a .32. So not fair." Arizona grumbled playfully.

The two sat in silence for a second, just enjoying the closeness of each other's bodies and how calm each of them felt in the other's presence.

"I'm scared, Arizona." Callie admitted after a while, pulling Arizona into a gentle embrace.

"I know. Me too…" Arizona replied truthfully, not feeling the usual compulsion she got to hide her fright and save face. But she wasn't going to change her plan just because she was scared. In her opinion, the benefits far outweighed the risks.

Arizona inhaled the smell of the Latina's skin, her grapefruit shampoo invading her sense before she pulled away, knowing what she was about to ask probably wouldn't go down all too well…

"Do you know if the security guards have guns?" Arizona asked mildly, hoping that Callie didn't think too much into the question before she answered.

"Arizona…" Callie warned, knowing the way Arizona's brain worked.

Who was Arizona trying to kid? Of course Callie would realise what she was asking, she was a frickin' genius after all.

"Calliope, do they have guns?" Arizona repeated with determination, she was going to do what she did best and that required the right equipment.

"Yes." Callie murmured. She really didn't like the way this conversation was going.

The sound of a door met Arizona's ears again, as she checked her watch once more. She just hoped beyond hope that whoever was out there hadn't had the soundness of mind to take the downed guard's gun with them.

"Good." Arizona replied, still formulating her plan. "That's good."

The foot that she'd seen was approximately 50 feet away. Saying she crawled at around 1 m/s… It would be cutting it fine to get there, get the piece and back again before the person exited the room they were in, and even then that was a gamble. What if there wasn't anything keeping the shooter in the room for that long? What if they walked into a supply closet? The human element was always the biggest unknown when planning operations and the biggest danger because of it.

"Arizona, you can't go out there." Callie grabbed onto the front of Arizona's vest top, physically stopping her from moving anywhere.

Covering Callie's hands with her own, the colours of their skin creating a mesmerising contrast, Arizona managed to loosen the Latina's grip, fingers intertwining with her own instead.

"I want you to hide under the bed, okay?" Arizona told Callie, her eyes boring into the Latina's, trying to make sure that Callie did as she asked, as stupid as it might sound. If anyone came into the room then it would be harder to see anyone if they were under the bed, or might miss them entirely. Either way, it would give Callie precious seconds if they did find her. Besides, there really wasn't room for two people under that bed.

Arizona was raised to be a good man in a storm, and protect the things she loves. And that's exactly what she planned to do.

"What?! Arizona, please, I…" Callie pleaded, she didn't doubt that Arizona had the skills to pull this off, if she could actually walk, but she couldn't. She'd been blown up in the desert, nearly died and now here she was, risking a bullet.

"Trust me, Calliope. I can do this." The conviction in her voice never betraying the nervousness, the fear, in her limbs.

But that was normal, nerves were completely expected, needed, in fact. It showed a respect for the danger, an acknowledgement that you might die, made you realise just how careful you had to be to hold onto life, because it could be there one second, then in the squeeze of a trigger, be gone. First, to conquer, you must conquer yourself. Conquer your fear. And then live.

* * *

Arizona had begun her operation as soon as she heard the two lots of doors opening and closing, the second much closer than the first. As much as Callie didn't want her to go, she wasn't one to sit around and do nothing, she was a marine, and marines didn't wait for fate to come to them, they went to fate. Not that her hospital room was any safer than the corridor, not now.

Crawling had been more of a problem than she'd anticipated. The range of movement in her right knee was practically non-existent, so she had had to resort to dragging the lower half of her body limply behind her, pulling herself forward on her arms, but she'd managed. Arizona just thanked God that the floor was nice, smooth and well-polished.

Checking her watch, Arizona reckoned it had taken her around 5 seconds longer than anticipated to make the distance and reach the security guard, a pool of crimson seeping through the fabric of his shirt, just above the navel. Working quickly, Arizona applied two fingers to the downed man's carotid, checking for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.

Fumbling with the catch on the man's 9mm Smith and Wesson holster, Arizona scanned the horizon for anything she could find to pack the wound with. Just as her eyes found a discarded lab coat, Arizona heard the tell-tale click of a door being opened.

'_Fuck!'_ Arizona threw herself into a prone position, wriggling her way as stealthily as she could to manage a peek at the shooter whilst minimising exposure. Not only did Arizona want to get a gauge on the person, but more importantly, she wanted to make sure they didn't jump a couple of doors and meet Callie…

Pulling herself forward a couple inches, her newly acquired gun sitting at her back, tucked in the waistband of her sweat shorts – cocked but safety on -, Arizona turned her head to face down the corridor.

A man. Middle-aged, and if she had to guess, Arizona would say around mid-50s - about the same age as her dad… Average build, 5'10" – 5'11". At best, he had 5 inches on her. She couldn't make out the gun, held in the man's right hand when Arizona was closest to his left, the shooter's body obscuring it from her vision.

Arizona held her breath as she watched the attacker move towards her door, only letting it out as she saw him enter the door before her own. Time was running out.

Sliding herself back to the fallen guard, Arizona undid the man's shirt and placed the lab coat she'd discovered, belonging to one Christina Yang, over the seeping wound, blood pumping out of it slowly, but rhythmically with ever beat of his heart. Stripping him of his belt, Arizona worked the leather strap around his body before pulling it as hard as she could to try and stem the bleeding. Hopefully it wasn't interfering with his lungs, but that was the best she could do at the moment.

Beginning to slide herself back to her room, her shoulders starting to burn at the efforts, Arizona slunk back behind the corner, hearing another click followed by the swish of an opening door. Footsteps, moving away, the door crashing shut. Another one opening.

Her door.

Double timing it back down the corridor, the silence almost deafening, Arizona prayed that she could get there in time. Get there to protect the thing she loved.

* * *

Callie held her breath as she heard the seal on the door give way. She'd positioned herself under the bed as Arizona had instructed her, but had made sure that she had a clear view of the door. It was always a good idea to have eyes on every point of egress, right?

'_Please be Arizona, please be Arizona'_¸ Callie prayed, already thankful that she hadn't heard anymore gunshots since the blonde had decided to leave the not-so-safety of her hospital room for the danger of the corridor.

But it wasn't. A pair of black loafers made their way confidently into the room, moving around it slowly as if looking for something… or someone…

Before she could halt it, a whimper escaped from the Latina's lips, making the feet stop in the wanderings.

"Hey!" A familiar voice shouted from beyond the confines of the room, the feet immediately retreating in the direction of the noise, Callie's heart practically beating out of her chest. If Arizona hadn't shouted when she did…Callie shuddered. It really didn't bare thinking about.

"Put down the gun." Callie heard Arizona's voice say in a neutral tone, with perhaps just a slight

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" What Callie assumed to be the owner of the shoes boomed, his voice spitting with anger.

"Put down the gun." Arizona repeated in the same level tone.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SITTING ON THE FLOOR?!" The man screamed, obviously the confusion as to why Arizona wasn't standing to meet him causing the man's anger to overflow

"Put down the piece, and I'll tell you." Arizona tried to bargain. Callie knew that Arizona wouldn't shoot the guy unless she had no other option, and even then she'd try and avoid a kill shot.

"I got blown up, okay? In Afghanistan, I got blown up. Now how about you put the gun down? Are you really going to be the person who shot an injured marine?"

Callie felt the tension in the air rise about 120% in mere seconds as silence descended once again. He must be thinking it over, working out his odds, Callie surmised. Without being able to see, it was all Callie could do to extrapolate the facts.

"Fuck this. Fuck YOU. I just want to find Shepherd, and YOU ARE SITTING IN MY WAY." Callie jumped as the shoes began to yell again, seemingly having made up his mind.

"I will shoot you." Arizona warned.

So she must have gotten the gun... At least that gave Callie a little bit of reassurance, but not nearly enough.

_BANG!_

The sound of a gunshot ringed through Callie's ears, her body tensing as vibrations ran through the floor beneath her.

_BANG!_

Another shot, the smell of gunpowder instantly hitting Callie's nostrils as she scrambled out from underneath the bed, stumbling towards the still open door as fast as her shaking limbs would carry her.

Whatever had just happened out there… Either way, it was over. Either Arizona had shot 'The Shoes', or… For Callie, either way, it was over.

* * *

"FUCK…" Arizona moaned, lying spread eagle in the middle of the hospital corridor.

The guy hadn't wanted to listen to reason. Hadn't wanted to put down his gun, end his rampage. Arizona could sort of understand why. He was looking for someone. But that didn't mean you went around shooting innocent bystanders as well.

When he levelled his .45 at her, Arizona knew that he wasn't going to bluff, wasn't going to hesitate, so she fired first. Shoot first, ask questions later.

Except that the attacker wasn't going to be answering questions anytime soon. She'd hit him just slightly left of centre mass, high on the chest – straight through the heart.

There was a reason that she'd been given the nickname 'Hawkeye'. She never missed a shot.

What Arizona hadn't been bargaining on, was the shooter's gun unloading on her as he dropped to the ground, the impact causing the cocked gun to fire it's loaded round straight into her knee.

"HOLY SHIT…" Arizona cursed, the pain radiating its way through her leg was only half of the pain that she'd felt after being used as target practice for that RPG, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell.

"Oh my God!" Callie howled from down the hall. Arizona closed her eyes gently and praised whatever deity there was up there that Callie was okay. In her head, she knew that a gun hadn't been fired, that the shooter hadn't been in the room for even 30 seconds, but seeing was believing.

Feeling soft, warm hands on her chest, on her face, her knee… Arizona opened her eyes to the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. Calliope Torres looking down at her, her raven hair flowing freely down the sides of her face as her hands felt like magic on the blonde's skin.

"Oh my God, Arizona!" Tears were flowing freely from her chocolate orbs, eyes finding the gun lying next to Arizona's right hand, the body just meters further down the hall.

The images running through Callie's head made her shudder.

Moving before her brain had time to process the action, Callie brought her lips firmly down against the blondes, needing to feel the affirmation of life, hot, wet and hungry as that was, and not just see it.

Shocked at the action, Arizona took a second to get her brain working again before she reciprocated hungrily. The feel of her lips was so much better than Arizona had ever anticipated, plump, wet, warm and pain numbing.

When the Latina ghosted her tongue gently against her lips, seeking permission to enter, it was all Arizona could to do comply, their tongues dancing to a rhythm they'd never heard before, but were experts at. It was natural, easy, but explosive, but not like the RPG that had brought Arizona to her goddess. It was much bigger than that, not even C-4 or atomic bomb level type of explosion. Start thinking more of the Big Bang, and then you'd be getting close.

Definitely so much better than either woman could have ever dreamed.

"You're an idiot." Callie gasped as she pulled away from the kiss, relief flooding through every sinew of her body that Arizona was alright, she was alive.

"Why do people keep telling me this?" Arizona questioned, trying to keep the mood light, only managing to get half sitting up before the pain in her knee became too intense.

"Maybe because you are? Do you know how long it took me to put that leg back together the first time?" Callie wiped the tears from her face whilst tenderly chastising the marine.

"D'ya think you could get me some Advil for my knee or something?" Arizona groaned, the pain that Callie's touch had cured returning at her absence.

"You want Advil for your knee? Advil?" Callie questioned

"I'm sorry, babe, but that's going to need a bit more than Advil…"

"I kind of figured. What is it with people and shooting me in the leg?" Arizona commented dryly. She had a whole body worth of targets, but everyone seemed fixated on her legs.

"I dunno…" Callie replied absently, before her tone became serious, her fingers teasing Arizona's hair gently as she thought of what could have happened.

"Arizona…"

"I know." The blonde replied, knowing exactly the sickening feeling you get when you watched someone you care about run into danger, rather than away from it.

"You can never do that again." Callie stated firmly. Watching Arizona go out there… It was a feeling she never wanted to experience ever again.

"I know." Arizona repeated, letting Callie vent her… Fear? Anger? Whatever it was that would make her feel a bit better, Arizona was going to let her vent.

"Promise me you'll never do that again. You can't do that… I can't…" Callie faltered. She knew deep down that Arizona wouldn't be Arizona if she didn't do things like this, take the initiative… Protect the innocent.

But Arizona couldn't promise that. Everything she'd done in her life had been towards the goal of becoming a marine, being the person that saw the danger, and tackled it head on. It wasn't in her nature to back down, or turn the other cheek, and maybe that was selfish of her.

"Okay. I promise I'll never crawl over to a dying…" Arizona suddenly realised she'd forgotten totally about the bodyguard she'd acquired the gun from, bleeding just feet from them.

"SHIT, Calliope, you've got to get to the security guard, he's bleeding out!" Arizona cried, pointing over her head in the direction of the wounded man.

Callie was immediately on her feet, the sound of footsteps stopping abruptly as Callie dropped down to her new patient, assessing the damage.

"Don't think that this means you're off the hook, Robbins." Callie shouted over her shoulder as she peeled back the makeshift dressing Arizona had made and grimacing at what she saw. This guy needed surgery, stat.

Arizona's smile turned more into a grimace as she accidently twisted her knee as she tried to pull her phone out of her sweat short pockets to make some sort of contact with the police. They needed an update on the situation so the guard could get the surgeons and surgery he needed to survive.

'_So much for being out of danger_', Arizona mused as she punched 911 into her seemed getting shot at home was just as likely for Arizona Robbins as it was in the desert. Not that she'd do anything differently if she had to do it again. Not if it meant that she missed out on that kiss.

* * *

**A/N 2: Kate Havnevik did give me some pretty handy mood music for this chapter – classic Grey's!**

**Turned out writing this chapter was kind of difficult for whatever reason. I did contemplate leaving you guys on another cliff hanger, but I thought that would be really evil, so hopefully you can forgive me the longer time between updates!  
**

**As always, thanks for reading! Hope you have/are having/had a great day ;)**


	9. Fortes fortuna iuvat

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: Wrote some of this with an almighty hangover. That whole 'beer before liquor' thing is a load of hokum. I tried it both ways around the other night, and neither one stopped me from wishing for a quick and painless death! Sorry if some of this sounds… weird… as a result!**

**Thanks for all the reviews! In the words of Arizona Robbins, you're awesome!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: ****Fortes fortuna iuvat**

Life is like a game of roulette. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. There's no skill to roulette, there's no bluffs like in poker, no educated estimations like in blackjack. It's just you, a ball and 38 red and black spinning pockets.

So why do people play? When the house always wins, what's the point?

Addicts tell you it's the rush, the adrenaline, the fear and anticipation - believing that as much as you may lose, sooner or later, you're going to win, and probability agrees. Play the game long enough and every now and then you'll win - and win big, others you'll lose every last cent you've got, but that's all part it. In a game of roulette, when all is fair you either win or you lose.

Luckily, unlike roulette, life isn't so black and red. Sometimes in life, when it looks like you've lost, you've actually won. And won the jackpot.

"You ever sleep, Torres?" Mark asked picking up a vial of watery liquid and shaking it about before peering into it.

Callie had been working on her artificial cartilage project ever since the… incident. Even if she had yet to be cleared for surgery by the hospital appointed shrink, that didn't mean she had to sit around doing nothing all day. Besides, it was quiet in the lab, gave her time to think.

"What?" Callie replied distractedly, not really listening to her best friend as she pipetted a drop of murky looking liquid into a small glass vial.

"You know, it's this thing when you, usually, get into a bed, close your eyes and…" Mark played, putting down the vial he had in his hand before perching on the edge of Callie's desk.

"I know what sleep is, Mark." Callie answered sarcastically before stoppering the newly made solution and popping it into the centrifuge.

"You do it?" Mark probed, watching Callie intently.

"Of course I sleep, Mark. I am human, after all."

Mark made a face of shock and awe at his best friend, one to suggest that he couldn't quite believe what she'd just said.

"You are? I was wondering there for a while." Mark couldn't help himself. He loved the banter between himself and Callie. It was just one of the many parts of their relationship that was easy and comfortable.

"Is it just me or are you looking a little pale..? Hey, I didn't realise they kept blood packs in here..."

"Haha, very funny Sloan. Now, if you're done being so hi-larious, can you, I don't know… Shove off? I'm trying to work here." Callie snapped, although she had to hand it to Mark. She'd never have suspected him to go so Twilight on her ass. It was just plain wrong – on so many levels.

"You do know that we have people who do this kind of thing for you?" Mark answered, making no attempt whatsoever to move.

"Yep." Callie replied simply. She really didn't want to have this talk again, not after having had it so many times before with every single researcher and developer currently employed at Seattle Grace Mercy West.

"So why don't you let them do it?" Mark asked, really not understanding why his friend was wasting her time doing something other people were paid to do when she didn't have to.

"They said it wouldn't work." Callie replied sharply, always keeping her eyes averted from the older surgeon.

Mark went to open his mouth, ready to express his opinion, when Callie beat him to the punch.

"Before you say it, it will work, Mark." Callie rebutted the unasked, unwanted and unnecessary statement waiting on Sloan's lips.

Arizona needed it to work.

"Okay…" Mark said disbelievingly before Callie inhaled deeply and started up the centrifuge, the pair staring intently at it before the machine began to slow, it's programmed time up.

"It has to…"

* * *

"Honey, why don't you let me do that for you?" Barbara pleaded with her daughter as she attempted, in vain, to adjust the pillow she had at her back.

"Mom, its fine! My leg may be back in the shit, but my arms work perfectly well! So just leave it, okay!" Arizona snapped, immediately regretting using the tone with her mother.

"Mind your language, please. There's no need for those kinds of words." Barbara chirped. These were obviously practiced words from her mouth.

"Sorry Momma…" Arizona blushed, sinking down into the rough hospital sheets.

"It's okay, baby, I know this must be hard for you. To have to do all of this again."

Hard was an understatement. They say that surgery is a team sport, but recovery isn't – recovery is lonely as hell. Arizona didn't know about surgery, but the latter half was definitely true.

"No it's not okay. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a little frustrated, that's all." Arizona breathed, knowing that her mother really didn't deserve her wrath – no-one did. It was just one of those things that was hard to keep internalised 24/7, however hard Arizona's resolve was.

"When was the last time you saw Callie?" Barbara asked seeming disinterested as she continued to busy herself with the half-finished crossword on her lap.

"What?" Arizona asked a little too defensively. Of course her mother had noticed. Her mother hadn't missed anything in Arizona's whole entire life. Ever.

"Oh, come on, Zona, I'm your mother, I can tell that something happened." Barbara looked up from her crossword once more, levelling her own blue eyes at her daughters. A mother's intuition was never wrong – not in Barbara Robbins' case at least.

"Soo…" The elder Robbins drawled, trying to coax some response out of her daughter. She'd let her stew for the week that she'd been in Seattle after the shooting debacle, knowing that Arizona usually told her everything she needed in time. Only this time Barbara couldn't wait, wouldn't let Arizona wait that long, not when she'd seen how happy the Latina made her only surviving child.

"I dunno..." Arizona lied, she knew exactly the last time she'd seen Callie – it was always too long ago.

"A week ago?"

Arizona slumped back into her bed, catching another knowing glace from her mother. The days following the accident had been hard, especially with the surgery on her knee and all of the affected surgeons and patients needing to go through grief counselling. She'd luckily managed to get out of that particular chore by grace of her military experience. She'd dealt with madmen with guns many times before, too many times before.

"Why don't you go and see her?" Barbara continued in an inquisitive yet not too forceful tone, the one parents' use to make it seem that they're suggesting something, when actually what's said is meant in the imperative.

"I don't know, momma…" Arizona groaned, as much as she yearned to see the woman that made her heart run riot in her chest just by being in the same room, but Arizona wasn't sure if the Latina was ready yet.

"Arizona…" Her mother scolded, slightly surprised at her daughter's caution. Arizona was rarely one to doubt what she wanted, and usually jumped at any opportunity head first.

"What if she needs some space? What if I go and see her and she doesn't want to talk to me anymore or have anything to do with me?"

It was one thing knowing the reality that Arizona had killed countless people, but it was another thing actually seeing it. Something like that can change everything you thought you knew about a person and turn them on their head. In some ways, doctors were the complete antithesis of the men and women on the frontline. Doctors swore an oath to do no harm, and soldiers carried death machines around on their hips day in, day out, and didn't think twice about using them.

"Why would she want to do that, Arizona?" Barbara replied shortly. Arizona was obviously being ridiculous, and Barbara had had enough of this game. Weighing the odds of making Arizona retreat into herself or actually spurring her daughter into action, Barbara decided to go for it. She'd thought her daughter had learned the lesson that you only live once, but obviously she needed a bit of a reminder.

"Go and see that girl, Arizona Robbins! I had enough of your moods when you were a teenager, so you're going to get your butt into that wheelchair and you're going to go and see that magnificent surgeon and stop being so…"

Was her mom really going to say pissy? Arizona had never heard a curse of any kind fall from the lips of one Barbara Robbins.

"Grumpy."

Nope, polite as always. That's not to say she didn't have a point...

* * *

"Ay mios Dios!" Callie grumbled impatiently. She'd tried formula after formula, reaching a gloopy consistency, but never becoming fully solid, and it was grating on her nerves. She was always so close, but never got the cigar.

Callie continued to mutter in what sounded to Arizona to be angry Spanish, before throwing the test tube she'd been holding into the trash can beside her desk. Seemed that whatever Callie was doing wasn't going all that well.

Pushing the door further forwards in front of her, Arizona used her good leg to prop it open as she managed to wheel her way slowly into the lab.

Returning her attention to the captivating Latina hard at work in front of her, Arizona was surprised to find brown eyes eying her up and down, a small smile on her lips that reflected gently in her eyes. That look would never stop Arizona's heart from fluttering.

"How's your knee?" The Latina asked gently, putting down the pencil that she'd been using to write notes to give her full attention to the newly arrived blonde.

"Meh. It aches." Arizona replied, rubbing her leg unconsciously.

It always ached. In some ways, Arizona thought it was worse than the pain of actually getting shot. Intensity wise, sure it was so much more painful, but that had gone away after the surgery. This, however, nagged at you, day in, day out, never relenting. The meds helped a bit, but she'd been taken off the morphine a couple of days after the surgery - something about acquiring an addiction or something like that. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when the pain stopped her from sleeping, Arizona wished she could just hack her leg off from the knee up and be done with it.

"This the reason I haven't seen you in months?" Arizona pointed to the equipment and notes splayed haphazardly around the stressed out Latina, the pencil sticking wildly out of her jet black hair making Arizona smile in spite of her mock annoyed tone.

"Arizona…" Callie laughed gently.

"It's only been, what? Two, three days?"

"9 and a half days." Arizona stated matter-of-factly. There really wasn't much for her to do now that she didn't have P.T. and Callie had disappeared, apart from count the days. She'd seen Teddy a couple of times, and her mother, but they weren't Callie. Compared to her, and as much as she loved them, Momma and Teddy just didn't quite cut the mustard.

"What?" Callie almost shouted in disbelief, getting a dirty look from the couple of people who were also using the lab. There was no way she hadn't seen Arizona for that long, was there? The shooting only seemed like yesterday…

"I haven't seen you for 9 and a half days." Arizona repeated, unable to keep the emotion out of her voice. Since when had she become so sappy? She was badass, hard-core. Usually.

"I've missed you." Yep. At this moment, Arizona was definitely not being hard-core.

"You're joking, right? I mean…" Callie couldn't believe that it had been that long since she'd seen the blonde, yes she'd been working hard, but could she really have been missing days?

"Shit." Callie growled as the realisation hit her. Maybe Mark had a point…

Watching Callie bang her head gently at the desk in front of her before she turned her soulful brown eyes to the soldier's bright blue ones, Arizona's heart skipped a beat. She was sure that she was staring at the surgeon, but Arizona couldn't find it within herself to care. Even all mussed up and stressed out, the Latina just oozed sexy.

"Go out with me." Arizona blurted, wheeling her chair slowly over to where the breath taking surgeon was sitting

"Okay, now I must be hallucinating or something, because I swear you just asked me to go out with you." Callie rubbed her hands roughly up and down her face, the weariness of the past couple of weeks finally seeming to catch up with her.

"You're not hallucinating, Calliope. Go out with me." Arizona repeated, just the thought of taking Callie on a date making her dimples pop so much, she thought her face was about to fall off. No more time dancing around each other. She couldn't just ignore that kiss – it kept her awake every night, not that she really minded.

"A break will do you good; maybe it's what you need to get your project back on track. Some perspective or whatever they call it." Arizona coaxed, seeing the apprehension in the Latina's enrapturing chocolate eyes.

"I don't know, Arizona, the Chief really wants this done asap, and…" Callie replied slowly. Did she want to go on a date with Arizona? If she was honest with herself, she probably had been immersing herself in the cartilage project so she could avoid the inevitable conversation she was due with Arizona.

"Balls to the Chief. He owes me, anyway, for dealing with the madman with the gun, remember? I'm sure he won't mind if you take one day off. So what do you say, hotshot?"

"You can't leave the hospital…" Callie continued; resolve crumbling quicker than a chocolate chip cookie.

"Nope… Go out with me." Arizona replied simply, determined not to let Callie wiggle her way out of this one. She wanted it, Arizona could tell, Callie just needed an extra little push – just like Barbara had given her earlier.

"I have my ways, Calliope. Just you wait. I won't disappoint, I promise!"

Thank God her mother was here, for once her finicky ways would be oh-so useful.

* * *

"Oh my God, this looks amazing!" Callie cried as she pulled the blindfold Arizona had forced her to wear off of her face. She was amazed at what the blonde had achieved in such a small space of time, and in the setting that she had.

The familiar room had been completely transformed. A dreary on-call room by day, it turned out the small space was an intimate Italian style restaurant for two, complete with mood lighting, a single pillar candle in the centre of the table, and a red rose, set delicately across in front of the yet unrevealed meal.

"You like?" Arizona asked shyly, suddenly anxious that the Latina would find this overly cheesy and laugh in her face at her attempt of a romantic setting. She should have stuck with the

"Like it? I love it, Arizona, how did you manage to do all this?!" It was… miraculous. Everything was perfect. The light, the candle, the rose, all of it. Some people may have called it tacky, and Callie was usually one of those people, but it wasn't like that at all. It was understated, yet elegant. It said what it meant and meant what it said. Just like Arizona.

"Like I said, I have my ways." Arizona hadn't even had to ask her mother to cook the meal for her romantic evening not-quite-out with Calliope, before Barbara had practically ran out of the room to get all the necessary ingredients for one of Ma Robbins' classic mouth-watering dishes.

"And Mark owed me a favour, and when Mark owes you a favour, that also means his interns owe you a favour." Arizona smirked when she remembered the conversation she'd had to have with the Latina's best friend to get him to set up the room and ward off any tired surgeon or nurse looking for a convenient place to take the weight off.

Apparently this particular room had had to be sealed when a sudden outbreak of pink-eye in staff members who had used this room as their make-shift bedroom for the night had revealed itself. No-one wanted pink-eye, did they? She also had the older surgeon keeping an eye out to make sure anybody making for the door was warded off before they could reach their destination and ruin all of Arizona (and Barbara's) intense planning.

Arizona really had to remember to thank Mark the next time she saw him, he'd really pulled it off.

Arizona wheeled herself to the table and guided Callie gently around to the one of chair set opposite an unseated plate, its contents hidden beneath a makeshift napkin tent.

Sitting down at the proffered seat, Callie watched as Arizona pulled the napkin off with a flourish revealing a more than appetizing looking dish of what appeared to be a gourmet version of beef stew. Callie had to chuckle. It's exactly what she needed at the moment, a nice comforting, hearty meal on a cold and wet Seattle day.

"Oh my God!" Callie moaned when the food hit her mouth, an unexpected, but entirely welcome hit of chili tickling her taste-buds delightfully.

"This isn't even hospital food! Arizona…!"

Callie couldn't believe the effort that the blonde had gone to in order to make this the best evening possible under the circumstances. She may not have looked the part, still in her scrubs and lab-coat since she'd just gotten off her shift, but Arizona sure made her feel the part. There was just something in the way the marine looked at her…

The surgeon's eyes widened as Arizona pulled out a bottle of red wine from underneath the table, already uncorked and ready to go. Arizona wasn't wrong when she said she had her ways, a bottle of the good stuff surviving more than 10 minutes whilst unattended in this place before being pilfered by one of the interns for their crazy parties was a miracle.

"Arizona, you do know that when we mean no alcohol, that includes wine, right?" Callie laughed, picking up the glass of red liquid Arizona had poured generously into the waiting wine glass.

"Right! It's grape juice, Calliope! Sorry to disappoint!" Arizona giggled as the Latina wrinkled her nose, grape juice wasn't exactly her most favourite drink in the universe, but you had to give Arizona credit for getting as close to the forbidden alcoholic alternative as possible.

"Plus you're on call, so…"

Callie nodded unwillingly in acceptance. Thinking about it, it probably was a good thing she wasn't drinking considering what happened last time Callie, alcohol and Arizona had been in the same room. That was definitely not one of her finest moments.

The meal continued in a comfortable silence, the only sounds filling the room those of two contented women enjoying their delicious Mrs Robbins' special chili steak stew. It was always one of Arizona's favourites that her mom used to make when she was feeling rough, or if any member of the family was ill.

"I'm sorry I've been so busy lately. I just… I just needed a bit of time to process, I guess…" Callie said quietly once she'd had her fill, wiping her mouth gently with the now discarded napkin.

The more she thought about it, the more Callie came to the conclusion that she couldn't just avoid problems in her life like she had been doing up until now. If the shooting had taught her anything, it was that life was short, and you had to live it while you had it, not fritter it away not doing something you wanted because you thought it was risky. Getting up in the morning, going outside, driving to work, it was all risky, yet she did that every day. How was this any different?

"And…" Arizona asked expectantly, wanting to know more than she ever thought possible what conclusions the Latina had come to. It was possible her whole future hung on the next sentence that fell from the surgeon's perfect lips.

"And…" Callie mimicked, fiddling with the foot of her glass of grape juice.

"And I think that I don't want to be left wondering what could have been if I only took the chance. I'd rather live knowing I tried, even if it doesn't work out."

Arizona let out a long breath that she didn't realise she'd been holding, the beating in her chest kick starting back into life after remaining still for what seemed a lifetime.

"Really?" Arizona asked quietly, a small smile coming to her lips as she reached her hand across the table towards the woman that had saved her life, not only once, but twice.

"Really." Callie replied, taking Arizona's cool hand in hers, a shot of electricity shooting up the Latina's arm, their fingers intertwining perfectly.

"Thank you." Arizona breathed to an invisible deity, smiling all the while like, Arizona was sure, a complete goofball.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

* * *

**A/N 2: Thanks for reading, you guys. Again, I'm sorry it took so long! Not really sure yet what's going to happen in the next chapter, if you've got any ideas on where you want the story to go, you're more than welcome to drop me a PM or put it in a review!**

**Thanks again for reading!**


	10. Omnia Causa Fiunt

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: Sorry this took so long guys, had some long flights, bit of moving about yatter, yatter, yatter, but here it finally is! Chapter 9! Muchas Calzona!**

**Sorry for any typos or the like, PM me if you find any that are really bugging you - ich bin sehr müde.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: O****mnia Causa Fiunt**  


Callie hadn't started this project with Arizona in mind. She'd been thinking about doing it for a while – she'd see person upon person fall foul to knee problems after a lifetime of being active, just to be told that they would have to give up everything they used to do all because of some stupid cartilage. It wasn't fair, nor was it necessarily incurable, it's just that no-one, as far as Callie knew, had tried to create artificial cartilage before. Now she was realising there probably was a reason for that.

It's not like she was particularly distracted – sure the date with Arizona had been awesome, and to actually, kinda, put a label on their relationship had actually been oddly freeing. Plus it meant that she hadn't been overworking it. Arizona was right; she'd needed a break, had needed regain some sort of perspective on the matter and it had helped… A bit. But it seemed like whenever Callie made a step forward, she hit another roadblock, an immovable object in her path that halted her from reaching her ultimate goal.

Picking up her notes and a handful of materials she'd been using to hopefully synthesise some sort of working cartilage prototype, Callie stood from her desk, flicked the desk light she'd been sweating under for what seemed like a life time with a free finger and strode purposefully out of the lab and in the only direction her feet seemed to take her these days.

Maybe it wasn't going to be the most conducive environment to do research in, but she couldn't help herself. The blonde had a calming effect on the Latina, and besides, some of the best discoveries had been accidents right? Penicillin, pacemakers, saccharin, all of them were accidental discoveries, born out of mistakes or ill hygiene or whatever, so maybe Callie'd just been thinking too much into things?

Using her back to push open the door to her destination, Callie was instantly hit by a not so appetising cheesy smell, dense and thick in the air, undercut with the pungent smell of tomato sauce.

"What the hell?! Why does it smell like feet in here?!" Callie cried in disgust, unable to pinch her nose and avoid the sickening smell due to her hands being full of notes and research materials.

"Berst Pertza I've erverr tast-ed" Arizona worked her mouth around an ungodly sized mouthful of margherita pizza, grinning like a fool as she gobbled the offending ambrosia down.

"Seriously?!" Callie asked more to herself than to the other occupant of the room, who just nodded in reply as she took another almighty bite of the pizza.

"Where did you even get that?!" Callie asked, carefully placing her research next to the pizza box, sans any pizza as she sat down in the chair just next to Arizona's bed, allowing Callie a perfect view of her Arizona's greasy cheese chin.

"Terdy." Arizona replied, obviously still deciding not to swallow before she answered.

"You mean Teddy, right?" Callie asked, even though she already knew the answer. When those two weren't trying to make the other squirm, they were like a pair of criminal masterminds, setting up pranks to play on unsuspecting interns, or, and this is the one they much preferred, Callie herself, or Teddy was sneaking Arizona some sort of controlled substance from the outside world.

Arizona nodded again, this time making sure she'd gulped down the last of her bite before trying to engage the Latina in conversation.

"Yup! Seriously, Calliope, this is the best Pizza I've ever tasted! You've got to have some!" Arizona wafted a half-eaten piece of the cheesy death in front of Callie's face, the aroma sinking into her nostrils before she could stop it.

"I'm good, really, Arizona." Callie grimaced teatrically, pulling away from the slice beneath her nose. It wasn't that she had anything against pizza, but this one really smelt like some of the more nasty jobs you had to deal with as part of being a doctor.

"Callieeee!" Arizona whined, pulling out the puppy dog baby blues like so many times before.

"C'mon, do it for me! You'll like it I promise!"

"Fine." Callie stated firmly, trying to make it across to Arizona that this wasn't something she was doing willingly, but had been coerced into. Maybe if she gave in now, it would save her in the long run.

"But only if you get rid of the box and the smell and brush your teeth once I'm done."

"Of course, mother." Arizona smirked, knowing she had the Latina wrapped around her pinky finger, just like Callie had Arizona around hers.

Leaning in and taking as sultry a bite of the remaining pizza as she possibly could, Callie closed her eyes at the taste, the mixture of the warm cheese melting wondrously with the tomato sauce smeared across the soft dough.

"What kind of cheese is that?!" Callie moaned, for all its smell, the cheese was mellow, yet held that stringy consistency that was mandatory for all pizzas.

"I dunno." Arizona said, the smile in her voice reflected in her eyes as she watched the way the Latina was enjoying the taste on her mouth.

"Crack cheese." Callie replied her mouth still full of cheesy heaven, just as Arizona's had been mere minutes ago.

Finishing off what turned out to be the final slice, Callie leaned back in her chair, relishing the final flavours of the pizza as it made its way down her throat.

"You got a bit…" Arizona laughed, remembering a time, not so long ago, where the couple had found themselves in exactly the same position. Well, not quite exactly…

"Oh…" Callie jumped forwards, her fingers grazing lightly the skin that was so dangerously close to her lips, it made Arizona groan in want.

"Seriously, this again?" Callie laughed, having just realised the similarities this situation had to their earlier encounter.

Arizona nodded in reply, beckoning the Latina forwards with both index fingers, her eyes darkening by the second.

"It would seem so…" Arizona whispered, leaning forward herself to close the distance between their two bodies as quickly as she physically could, not wanting to wait for the contact she so suddenly and so desperately craved.

"Except this time, I can do this…"

The feeling of Arizona's warm breath on her lips was all the encouragement Callie needed to part them, welcoming the blonde into her moist mouth. Her touch was tentative at first, getting a feel for the lay of the land, the blonde's tongue taking it's time to memorise the shape, the lumps and bumps of the Latina's lips before pulling gently on her bottom lip, requesting entrance. It was all Callie could do to oblige before tongues were duelling in what seemed a well-rehearsed battle – one parrying whilst the other thrusted, the movements quick, but never hurried as Arizona brought her hands to cup either side of the surgeon's face, increasing the depth and intensity of the kiss as much as humanly possible.

Slumping back into her bed, her lungs burning from lack of oxygen whilst her leg burnt from the exertion of keeping her body upright for such an extended period, Arizona smiled lazily at the Latina next to her, the same state of disrepair obvious by her heaving chest and flushed cheeks.

Patting the bed beside her, Arizona scooted to the side of the bed furthest from Callie, welcoming the Latina to Callie's warmth beside her was like heaven compared to the icy coolness that had been resident there before.

"Whatcha got there?" Arizona asked as Callie made herself comfortable on the now unoccupied side of her patient's bed. Screw hospital rules, she was already breaking so many, what was one more?

"Cartilage stuff." Callie shrugged nonchalantly. She really didn't want to get rid of the high Arizona's kiss had given her, but she knew sooner or later her little bubble would burst, and then it would be back to reality, and back to her failed project.

"Oh yeah?" Arizona replied quietly, picking up one of the boxes of equipment Callie had brought with her whilst bringing her free hand to rest gently upon the Latina's knee.

"How's that going?"

Callie closed her eyes and leant back into Arizona's pillow. She wanted to tell the marine it was going amazingly well, that she'd made progress and that the independent, heroic, unprecedentedly sexy blonde would be up and walking in no time. But she couldn't, and it hurt – it hurt not because she'd failed herself, but because she felt like she'd failed Arizona. If this divine justice crap actually exists, then Arizona was due a bucket load of good to come her way. If not more.

"About as good as a diesel engine running unleaded." Callie moaned, her eyes remaining shut as Arizona's hand began tracing lazy patterns over her leg.

"That bad? Ouch." Arizona murmured gently, all the while the hand that was not currently massaging the Latina into a quiet slumber was playing with the fun chemicals Calliope had left on the wheeled table in front of her. Probably wasn't a good idea to leave her with what, for all Arizona knew, could potentially be explosive chemicals, but Arizona was never one to weigh the risks before diving into a task.

"Oh neat!" Arizona exclaimed, shaking the vial she had in her hand up and down wildly.

Chemistry was actually fun! Arizona had never thought so in school, but then again, she really hadn't put all her attention into that particular class. She'd always preferred biology, she guessed she was more of a bigger picture kind of girl, rather than one that got bogged down in the nitty gritty. She really wasn't patient enough for that, but she saluted anyone that was. She loved Advil. And those all in one detergent capsules, they were handy. Oh, and Kevlar, she really, really loved Kevlar.

"What?" Callie mumbled, seconds away from the sweet, restful sleep that she hadn't seen in days.

"It's gone all hard, that's awesome!" Arizona cried happily, amazed that she could actually make anything happen to the liquid in the vial, not being any sort of chemical genius. The extent of her chemistry knowledge started and ended at high-school.

"What?" Callie shot up from her position on the bed, nearly falling off in the process before Arizona's arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her from a less than pleasant meeting with the cold floor. Again.

"Look!" Arizona shook the now solid liquid in the bottle in Callie's face, finally dropping the offending item in her doctor's outstretched caramel palms.

"Oh my God!" Callie whispered. She couldn't believe it. After all the time she'd spent slaving away without so much as a hint of being on the right track, Arizona got results in less than 10 minutes. Typical, really.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Arizona chuckled, pleased with herself for actually making something happen, and Callie didn't seem all that annoyed with her, so bonus!

"Arizona, do you remember what you did?" Callie said, her voice low and thoughtful.

"Umm…" Arizona drawled. She really hadn't made any kind of mental note as to what exactly she was doing, she was just putting a pinch of that here, a smidge of that there, just having a bit of fun.

"Babe… I really need you to remember what you did." Callie was almost frantic, looking for a pen, a piece of paper, anything to note down what her super amazing girlfriend..? had just managed to pull off without even thinking about it. Maybe this whole divine justice thing actually still did have a pulse.

"I just put the stuff in this little box here…" Arizona pointed to one of the little non-descript boxes on the table and then pointed at the vial, now held firmly between Callie's gentle fingers.

"Into this vial. Then I got that nasty looking black stuff over there and shook it up, but it still looked pretty skanky, so I just poured like half of it into here and added some of the saline stuff from my drip and…"

"Saline solution?" Callie asked, scribbling down what Arizona had just said. When she'd said that the best things often happened by accident, she really didn't expect this to happen, not in a million years. Arizona really was going to expect a citation on this now, wasn't she? Callie could imagine it now…

Torres, C.I, (M.D.); Robbins, A., (USMC). Didn't actually sound half as bad as she'd originally envisioned.

"Yeah…" Arizona drawled scrunching her cute little eyebrows together, the realisation that she may have actually stumbled upon something quite important only just hitting her.

"Why're you writing like the paper is on fire..?" Arizona quizzed, leaning forward to see a page of complex looking equations and chemical symbols that went straight over the blonde's head.

"Because, Arizona, you are a genius!" Callie cried, her eyes never leaving the quickly filling page before her.

"Well, that's not really that big news, everyone already knew that" Arizona teased, although still curious as to what exactly she'd done to make Callie's pen fly across the page at lightspeed.

"Care to elaborate?"

Callie laughed, the first real laugh she'd managed in days. She couldn't believe she'd missed it. The one obvious component to getting her blasted cartilage to solidify had simply been a relatively strong bonding lattice to upon which to affix the main components of her solution that was also soluble in water. The solution was so easy, it was laughable. And so that's exactly what Callie was doing – and damn, if it didn't feel good.

"Calliope..?" Arizona asked, slightly scared at the sudden outburst, but always elated to see her Calliope smiling – the sight always took her breath away.

Dropping the pen abruptly on the table in front of her, Callie turned to face Arizona, her eyes boring into the marine's sapphire counterparts. After a split second of eye contact, the Latina launched herself upon the unsuspecting blonde, cupping her face possessively to bring a fiery, if chaste kiss down upon unassuming rosy lips.

"Mmm… Thank you." Arizona murmured, enjoying the feel of the Latina half laying on top of her, her lips still tingling at the unexpected, but entirely welcome contact.

"No, thank you. You've just transformed my artificial cartilage project, from a project, into an actual feasible prototype!" Callie replied after a moment, gathering her strength to pull herself back into an upright position.

Callie knew that it would take months, if not years for all the testing to be completed regarding safety, fitness for purpose, ability to use the product throughout the body, not just primarily on knees, as Callie had been concentrating on. Of course she knew that, but that didn't make this any less exciting.

"Where would I be without you?" Callie asked into the ether, more a rhetorical question than anything else.

"Where would I be without _you_?" Arizona replied in kind, the playfulness in the air receding into a comfortable silence, the surgeon and the marine enjoying the silence that had fallen between them, it was practiced, the silence conveying the feeling of a million words better than the greatest orators of the ancient world.

"How wrong is it of me to be glad that you're here, Arizona?" Callie cut quietly into the silence, the thoughts in her head becoming too much not to be voiced out loud.

"I dunno." Arizona replied honestly.

"I used to believe that everything happened for a reason, but after Tim…"

Arizona had always had a positive outlook on life, because what was the point in making things worse than they actually were? So you were lagging behind at work. Get on that bike and pedal faster, pedal harder and pedal for longer, and then you'd be at the front of the pack. So you didn't end up in first place, that just gave you something to aim for next time. Everything had a silver lining, and everything would come right in the end. That's what Arizona had believed, at least until Tim had been killed, and there was really no rational explanation Arizona could find for that. When young people die, it is never rational, it never makes sense and it sure as hell isn't for a good enough reason.

"Now, I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe I was right in the first place. I don't know if it is wrong for you to be glad that I'm here, Calliope. All I know is that I'm glad I'm here too. And I'm glad to have you here with me." Arizona continued, her tone light and soft.

Realising that Callie wasn't about to answer her anytime soon, a wry smile came to Arizona's face, a perfect opportunity staring her in the face that she really couldn't refuse.

"Here at the end of all things." Arizona mimicked the words of Frodo, her smile becoming more and more uncontainable as she watched the recognition dawn on Callie's face.

"You goof!" Callie chuckled, giving Arizona a playful swat across the chest.

"What can I say? Lord of the Rings were great movies!" Arizona cried happily. She really did love Lord of the Rings. She'd always been Aragorn when they'd played as kids, much to Tim's dismay. He, in turn was always Boromir or Faramir, and Teddy was Legolas. Or Arwen, if she was feeling particularly girly.

"That they were. Although I'm not sure that I like your comparison to me as a 'stupid fat hobbit.'" Callie replied in mock annoyance, garnering a hearty chuckle from the blonde beside her.

"Oh, you, Calliope, are definitely not a hobbit. You're Gandalf. You work magic with that scalpel of yours and every time you walk into the room, I can't take my eyes off you. You've definitely got me under some sort of spell."

* * *

**A/N 2: Lord of the Rings was great, wasn't it? Hobbit soon!**

**As you probably know, we don't make any money from writing, we do it for the love of it, but sometimes we do get a little bit hungry. That's why we love FEEDback so much! Everyone likes food, right? **

**Popped in a shout out to John Wooden in there. Kudos to anyone who can find it. Thanks for reading, and make sure you guys have a good one!**


	11. Dum vita est spes est

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: Long time, no see! Sorry about delay, writers block, temporarily locating half a world away and university all have made me extremely tardy in getting this chapter up! Hopefully there are still some readers out there..? Apologies again, it is totally, completely, 100% my fault. **

**Fun fact for the day: Seattle weather is supposedly most similar to London weather. Unlucky. I guess this means that you guys never leave the house without an umbrella either?**

**That being said, and probably looking extremely irrelevant (you may see a theme appearing in my authors notes), here is the chapter (sorry if you need to reread the last chapter, I know it's a pain when authors – read: me – are lazy and take ages to post).**

* * *

**Chapter 10: ****dum vita est spes est.**

I don't think there's a person who is always completely rational in life. Is there actually any such thing as a stoic? When all the doors are closed, when they are all alone and no-one can see them, do they finally let it all out?

We're human, and by our nature, we're not necessarily rational beings. It's the emotion - the thing that, in many respects, above and beyond genetics, makes us who we are. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

I don't know about you, but I think he was right. Everything is easy when you always get what you want. It's when you hit a bump in the road, when you've been bucked out of that nice, comfortably seat that you've been lounging in; that's when things start to get interesting.

* * *

Callie had had the best day. It wasn't often that she felt lively at the end of a 14 hour shift, but today was different. Her residents and interns hadn't killed anyone, one of the residents had actually done a pretty solid job on a knee replacement without her needing so much as to just stand and watch, and she'd finished her paperwork before clocking off. Life was sweet, and it got even sweeter when she thought of the surprise she had in store for the blonde bombshell only a few rooms away from her. Even the rain wasn't dampening her spirit.

Maybe it was because today, her – no, hers and Arizona's – artificial cartilage finally entered the testing phase, meaning although this part was probably more critical than all the hours she'd put in, Callie's days and nights of no sleep, of endless research were finished. There were other people, people who could no longer tell her that her project wasn't even going to get out of the starting gate, who could do this part. It also meant that they were one step closer to getting Arizona back on her feet and fighting fit again.

Walking purposefully into the room, Callie stumbled when she realised it was unoccupied. The clothes, the smell, the tell-tale pile of chewed up old comic books in the corner all told her this was indeed Arizona's room, but the woman herself was no-where to be seen.

Poking her head out of the room, Callie caught sight of the overly perky red-headed resident that more often than not gave Callie a headache. Not because she was incompetent or anything, just… She had one of those voices, y'know?

"Kepner, have you seen Lt. Robbins anywhere?" Callie asked before the resident was out of earshot.

The small red-head shook her head, scurrying off in that awkward was she always did, obviously having been sent on some sort of important errand.

Slumping her shoulders and exiting the room the way she had come, Callie resigned herself to the fact that she probably wasn't even going to be able to say goodnight to her soldier, let alone give her the surprise that she'd been working on during her time off in the last couple of days.

"She's in the garden." The distinctive voice of Christina Yang called nonchalantly.

Callie turned to find the talented resident leaning almost cockily against an unoccupied gurney, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. The resident still hadn't forgiven the marine for using her lab coat as makeshift gauze for Mike, the downed security guard during the whole shooter fiasco. It wasn't so much that Arizona had used it to save someone's life, it was more the fact that it cost a bomb to dry clean. Christina preferred to reserve her spare cash for tequila and spirits rather than dry cleaning.

"What?" Callie replied in confusion. It was about 55 degrees out, and pouring with rain. Why anyone would be in the garden in this weather was beyond Callie. The only time she'd ever done anything like that was when her grandfather had died…

'_Oh Shit.'_

"She's in the garden." Yang repeated, rolling her eyes, obviously already getting bored with this conversation. "She had a piece of paper on her lap and was wheeling herself around like she was playing murder ball. Then she took the off for the garden."

The hospital had installed a small area in the centre of the complex for patients and family to go and relax outdoors, that was still, technically, inside the hospital but didn't have that clinical, chemically feel. It was nice, when the weather was, but that wasn't really today…

* * *

"Arizona…" Callie called as the automatic doors slid open before her, the sound of rain pitter-pattering on concrete almost drowning out her voice.

Not hearing a reply, Callie took it upon herself to explore the garden, on a mission to find her stunningly beautiful blonde marine of a… patient..?

Callie sucked the rain filled air in through her nose and closed her eyes at the familiar and homely smell of freshly fallen rain. The past few days had been oddly dry for Seattle, and Callie missed the way the rain always made everything seem brand new again, the way it washed away the dirt and grime of the city, of life.

Walking around a corner, the smell of gardenias strong in her nose, Callie caught a glimpse of one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever seen, something that she was lucky to see single day.

"Babe, are you okay?" Callie called, knowing that in all probability, Arizona was definitely not okay. Sitting, getting soaked in the rain by choice wasn't usually something that people who were 'fine' did.

Arizona sighed loudly a small whimper escaping her lips before she could catch it. Rubbing her hands roughly at her face as though the action would erase everything she had just discovered, could make her un-read the letter that she had received, and make her world make sense again. But it didn't.

"Oh, Arizona…" Callie whispered, bringing herself to kneel in front of Arizona's wheelchair whilst foregoing any attempts to keep herself dry any longer.

"What's the matter? What happened?" Callie murmured, pushing slick locks of drenched golden hair from Arizona's beautiful face.

As she lifted her, now bloodshot, eyes towards the brunette, Arizona pulled a small piece of paper from the pocket of her sodden sweatpants and handed it to the Latina, never uttering a word.

Callie swept her eyes quickly over the Marine Corps headed letter, her heart falling as she took in just exactly what the letter was telling her. Now it all made sense. A part of her was relieved, Arizona wasn't going to be in the front line of danger anymore, but the majority of her wanted to rip the letter up, pretend that it didn't exist, pretend that Arizona's whole life hadn't just been turned completely on its head – again.

Where there's life, there's hope, right?

"They've benched me." Arizona whispered calmly, something that Callie couldn't help but shiver at. Now she understood why Arizona had come into the garden. She needed somewhere to think. To cool off without the whole hospital gossiping.

Running her hand roughly through her hair, Arizona bashed her hand hard down onto the side of her wheelchair in anger, causing Calliope to flinch, the sound echoing oddly through the garden, the rain seemingly getting heavier in the exact same moment.

"After all of this, they just let me go? Thanks, but no thanks? Whatever happened to semper fi, Calliope?" Arizona couldn't hold it in any longer. The pain, the hurt and the rejection had all gotten too much for her as the tears ran freely down her face, the salty droplets mingling with the cool rain that had found Arizona's cheeks.

"We'll get you walking again, Arizona. We'll get you back on your feet and then you can return to active duty." Callie began, reaching for the blonde's hand as she spoke, wanting to let Arizona know that she wasn't alone, that Callie was there for her, that Callie needed her, even if the Marines didn't anymore.

"No. They won't take me back, Callie, don't you get it? To them, I'm nothing now. I'm nothing but a carcass of a person that I once was. I'm dead weight, a liability, and I will be for the rest of my life. According to the marine corps, I'm worthless." Arizona dropped her gaze into her lap. She hated that she wasn't strong enough to just accept this, to move on.

"Arizona, don't you think you're taking this a bit far…" Callie began, only to be cut off by an angry ex-marine.

"No. No I don't. We don't even know if your cartilage gunk works yet, and I may never walk again, so no, Calliope. I don't think I'm taking this a bit far."

Callie stepped away from the chair, turning her back to the blonde. If this was her, and she had been told that she couldn't operate any more, do the thing she has spent her life working to, the thing that she loves, the thing that she is best at in the world… The Latina could only imagine the pain that Arizona was feeling right now.

"Do you regret stopping that shooter, Arizona?" Callie enquired, her tone level and quiet.

"No." Arizona replied in a heartbeat.

"Would you rather have gone somewhere else, not to Seattle Grace Mercy West, and never met him?"

"No." Arizona reaffirmed as stalwartly as before. She was a soldier, she was a defender, and she protected the people around her. She couldn't bring herself to regret her decision to do what she did – she was a good man in a storm. She always had been, always would be. It was just one of those things. Fight or flight. Arizona always fought.

"No. Definitely not."

"Okay then." Callie stated simply, standing and pulling her lab coat tight to her chest in order to conserve some kind of body warmth. Arizona must be freezing…

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arizona snapped, immediately regretting her tone, looking towards the brunette doctor for forgiveness.

"You live with no regrets, Arizona. You do what you say and you say what you mean, and I love that about you. But if you don't regret any of the things that got you here, the things that meant that you got sent that letter… Is it worth getting all worked up about?" Callie stated, coming back to crouch in front of Arizona, their eyes level.

Arizona slumped back into her chair, crossing her arms firmly across her chest. As much as she hated to admit it, Calliope did have a point. She'd been lucky, up till now. Arizona had been playing the odds, and everyone knows that, in the end, the house always wins. Arizona almost chuckled. She guessed they'd finally come to collect.

"I know that being in the military has been your life for, well, forever, but you are amazing, Arizona, and there will be people lining up for you to work for them, people needing you." Callie continued, making Arizona swear the beautiful Latina had become psychic.

"You think so?" Arizona replied after a pause. To be honest, she couldn't really believe it. Who would want a cripple, who has no work experience bar that she had gained in the military (which she was sure wasn't really the experience most jobs in the civilian world looked for).

"I know so." Callie replied without a moment's hesitation. "I need you. And our cartilage is going to work, so all of this conversation is by the by." The conviction in Callie's voice leaving no room for argument.

Arizona chortled out a small laugh.

"Our cartilage?" Arizona said, a slight tinge of awe outlining her voice, the blondes beautiful blue eyes meeting Callie's in question.

"Well…" Callie began, rubbing her thumb gently across the tear tracks that were ever present on the blonde's smooth cheek. "You did kinda help me discover it, so it's only fair that you get some credit…"

Callie couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as Arizona smirked almost imperceptibly.

"What are you going to call it?" Arizona asked, feeling some of the sombre mood that had overshadowed her whole day recede – something that always happened when a certain Ortho goddess graced the marine with her company.

"I was thinking about Calzona, but…"

"That sounds way too tasty to be cartilage." Arizona cut Callie off, that cute smirk that Callie loved definitely now visible.

"Right… So I was thinking maybe Torbins or Robres solution? Or we could just go for the old fashioned Torres-Robbins." Callie suggested, not really caring what the solution was called, as long as people knew that both Arizona Robbins and Calliope Torres had discovered the blasted thing.

"Torbins sounds like a real old school, dusty chemistry textbook kind of solution." Arizona smiled lightly. "I like it."

"Torbins it is! Now…" Callie said, clapping her hands together as she made her way to the back of Arizona's wheelchair.

"How about we go somewhere and get out of these wet clothes?"

* * *

**AN 2: Aaah, California sun and Turkey day. I knew there was a reason I came here. Happy post-Thanksgiving people en Etats-Unis, I hope you are stuffed and are (almost) exploding out of your jeans/have had to change into sweats. I know I am/have. Hopefully I'll be able to get on a roll with this thing and post another chapter soon! Until then – thanks for reading!**


	12. Apudne te vel me?

**Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum**

**A/N: Soo… Does it ever get cold in Los Angeles? People say it does, but I don't know if I believe them. I mean cold as in you'll get hypothermia and die cold if you go out wearing flip flops. Not 'it's a little bit chilly, better put a sweater on' type of cold. If anyone could shed any light on this situation, it would be most appreciated. **

**Also, I would like to thank you guys who have stuck with the story, or who have just discovered it and decided to give it a go! Merci beaucoup! And an especially big thank you to those of you who reviewed!  
**

**So parts of this chapter may border on M rating. Yep. Never tried M before, mainly because I am pretty sure that I'd be shite at it, but here I am attempting some soft M. M meaning Mustard. No, actually it means Mature, but, hey, it'd be pretty cool if it meant mustard right - "I rate this story M because I think it's the Mustard" said Colonel Mustard in the drawing room to nobody, ever.**

**Okay…**

* * *

**Chapter 11: ****Apudne te vel me?**  


_**2 weeks later**_

Arizona rubbed her eyes against the harsh sunlight. It had seemed like years since she'd felt the tingle of warmth from the sun on her skin, had had to squint away the glare of its brilliant rays. She guessed that was one of the hazards of living in one of the wettest places in the Continental US. Not that Arizona minded the rain too much, in fact, she quite liked it. There was nothing quite as homely as being wrapped up warm in bed whilst the wind is howling and rain lashes the windows on a chilly winter's night. Correction – there wasn't much that was more homely than being wrapped up warm in bed, but Arizona would bet her entire life savings on the fact that being wrapped up in a warm bed with a certain drop dead gorgeous orthopaedic surgeon would be one hundred and twenty seven times better.

The rain also let you think. You know how you get those epiphanies in the shower? The ones that you can never hold onto once you shut off the faucet and return to the real world? That's what the rain was like for Arizona. It centered her, allowed her to do all the emotional processing that her life had taught her to hide away - put on the back burner, had helped her get through her brother's death and was going to help her get through this now. Warm and sunny days just didn't allow for the same amount of emotional pathetic fallacy.

Inhaling deeply the freshness of the evening spring air, Arizona let herself get pushed slowly towards her unknown destination, closing her eyes at the sensation whilst reaffirming to herself that she in no way, shape, or form would ever be suited to a desk job. She just loved the feeling of being outdoors too much – the way the sun feels on your arms, the way the wind nips at your ears in the winter, your breath mimicking smoke rings as though you are Gandalf and are awesome. Which kinda sucked, seeing as having a desk job is probably all that Arizona was likely going to be able to do from here on out.

"No regrets." Arizona mumbled to herself as she felt the anger and the hurt seep back into her. It was a mantra that Arizona had adopted ever since Callie's little speech a couple of weeks ago, back in the pouring rain.

Callie… She'd been a pillar of strength throughout this whole thing, from the very beginning, to the shooter, to the discharge papers, when Arizona's world looked as though it was about to implode, there Callie was, guiding the way, a beacon of light in the ever increasing darkness.

"Hmm..?" Callie's voice mumbled from behind Arizona's head, "You say something?"

Arizona smiled lightly. She had no idea what Callie had planned for later, all Callie had told her was that they were going to get out of the hospital for a day, and Arizona couldn't much argue to that. She'd go trash collecting on the side of the highway if that meant she got a little bit of time out of that (extremely upmarket, well-mannered and groundbreaking) prison that Seattle Grace Mercy West had become to her. Usually, in Arizona's line of work, surprises were bad, surprises spelt danger, surprises were what ended you up… well… here, but for this surprise, Arizona couldn't wait.

"Nope." Arizona brushed the question off lightly, her tone soft and relaxed, hinting ever so slightly at her growing excitement. "Just enjoying the sunshine."

"Well take it while you can. I'm pretty sure we've already exceeded our quota of sunny days already this year." Callie chuckled lightly, her pace slowing until she brought Arizona and the wheelchair to a stop in front of the most beautiful 1957 raven black Ford Thunderbird Arizona had ever seen.

"Woah…" Arizona gaped, her voice laced with awe and longing.

"Yup." Callie replied smugly, keeping her tone level, attempting to keep a straight face despite Arizona's obvious and kinda hot reaction. Erica had never been into cars, neither had George. Erica had said it was a man's past-time, but Callie had scoffed at that. Some cars were just beautiful, the same with motorbikes, and if people said she was a petrol-head, then she made no apologies about it. There was nothing quite like the feeling of a strong engine throbbing between your thighs when you step onto a motor bike, the raw power beneath her. "This is my baby."

"This is yours?!" Arizona cried incredulously, her eyes widening in awe. Callie all on her own was one of the hottest things that Arizona could conjure up, but Callie driving the T-bird... Arizona thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

Never taking her eyes off Callie, Arizona wheeled herself towards the car, holding her hand out, gently stroking the hood, ever careful of the paintwork.

"You wanna take a spin?" Callie asked, already knowing the answer.

"Like heck do I!" Arizona responded eagerly, practically ripping the passenger side door of the car off before she deftly levered herself from her wheelchair into the passenger seat on strong, toned arms.

Callie chuckled as she made her way swiftly to the driver's side, nodding politely in gratitude at the porter who had made the trek to recover Arizona's now abandoned and forgotten wheelchair before sliding into the T-bird herself.

As soon as her butt hit the leather, Callie was assaulted by Arizona's warm, moist pink lips as they captured her own. Taking a moment to respond, Callie moaned greedily into the kiss before granting Arizona access into her mouth, Callie's strong hands getting lost in tangles of the marine's radiant blonde hair.

Gasping at a sudden coolness that eased the fever that had engulfed Callie's body since Arizona had begun her assault, Callie felt Arizona laugh into their kiss as Callie finally registered that the cool relief she'd felt was actually Arizona's hands – the marine had managed to sneak 2nd base from her without the Latina so much as noticing!

Callie broke the kiss, a wide grin on her face as Arizona groaned at the lack of contact between them. Callie wasn't sure how Arizona had done it, and she sure as hell didn't care how the marine's hands had managed to elude all her senses - it felt good… electrifying, but now really wasn't the time to get into this, because, around Arizona, Callie wasn't sure how long she could control herself for.

"I'm sorry…" Arizona panted, settling herself back down into the leather seat with a thud.

"No…" Callie replied, her words equally as laboured as she tried to regain some sort of brain function. "Apology… Necessary…"

A silence filled the air, only broken by the sound of the two women's heavy breathing permeating the atmosphere. After a few moments, Arizona broke the silence, suddenly nervous that she'd somehow overstepped by assaulting Callie like that, that Callie hadn't wanted that to happen – the surgeon was the one that had broken the kiss, after all.

"I'm sorry, Calliope… It's just you… And this car… And your scrubs… And…" Arizona rambled, her words quickly gathering momentum.

"My scrubs?" Callie interrupted, a small smile tugging at the sides on crimson, still slightly engorged lips.

Arizona nodded silently. She didn't trust herself to say anymore – loose lips sink ships after all.

"You think my scrubs are hot..?" Callie asked incredulously, completely surprised. She'd never found her scrubs in the least attractive. They were designed for men – hugged all the wrong places and made her arms look like they belonged to a creepy child body builder. Sexy wasn't a word she would have used to describe them. Not in a million years.

"Not exactly…" Arizona replied quietly, quickly backpedalling when she saw the look of disappointment spread across the Latina's stunning face. "It's you. In the scrubs. You in the scrubs look sexy, not the scrubs themselves, I'm pretty sure that a pair of unworn scrubs isn't sexy in the least and people who think that scrubs are sexy without a sexy person in them probably need some sort of help or something, because who is attracted to an unworn article of clothing like that? I mean…"

"Arizona." Callie interrupted forcefully.

"Yep…" Arizona replied quickly, pursing her lips before any more ramble could escape.

Callie laughed lightly at the sight of the blonde. Even Arizona's ramblings were infinitely sweet, endearing, where Callie usually couldn't stand people who rambled. In her line of work, it was something that could get people killed.

"Shut up and kiss me."

* * *

Guiding the T-bird expertly into her personal parking spot, Callie turned off the engine and hopped hurriedly out of the vehicle. They'd left Arizona's wheelchair at the hospital – there was no way that that thing was ever going to fit into the T-bird – so Callie was anxious to make sure that her blonde bombshell of a marine wasn't going to immediately faceplant out of the car on the crutches that Callie had 'appropriated' from the hospital. Not only would that ruin the day that Callie had planned, but it would also mean another trip to Mark, and Arizona still wasn't his biggest fan - but she was trying.

"Where are we?" Arizona asked inquisitively once Callie had appeared at the passenger side door, crutches from the hospital in hand from the trunk.

"My apartment." Callie replied nonchalantly, trying her best to keep the smile from her face at Arizona's slack jawed expression. The slight tinge of pink that suddenly adorned her porcelain skin let Callie know exactly what the blonde was thinking. "Alright there missy. I'm just going to say this right here and now so that we have all the facts before we get into the apartment."

Arizona gulped involuntarily, nodding her head as Callie fiddled around with the sizings on the crutches to match Arizona's height.

"Nothing is going to happen today, or tonight, or whatever…"

"I wasn't… I didn't…" Arizona immediately protested, the pink hue ever rising on her soft cheeks.

Callie arched her eyebrow, obviously not believing for one second that Arizona didn't have a dirty mind, and handed the marine a crutch, which Arizona stuck forcefully under her own arm.

"Wait…" Arizona began, recovering quickly. "What do you mean, Calliope? NOTHING is going to happen? That would be a pretty boring date, I must say, and a little bit sadistic – getting a poor old war-wounded soldier's hopes up and all. The least you could do is…"

"You know what I mean!" Callie exclaimed, returning Arizona's mischievous smile. "Now get our cute butt up and out of my baby."

Callie cringed. She really should have thought through that sentence before she had said it.

"Well that just sounded wrong." Arizona stated, the smirk only growing on her face as she levered herself out of the T-bird awkwardly on the crutches. It was a beautiful car, but definitely wasn't the easiest thing to get out of whilst incapacitated.

"I got this."

Waving off Callie's proffered hand (as Callie had all but predicted Arizona would) Arizona finally managed to get herself upright, wobbling only slightly as she made it to her feet.

"Ta-da!" Arizona sang like a child hopped up on sugar and E-numbers. Callie was sure that if Arizona had had her hands free, there would have been jazz hands involved in there somewhere.

"Nice work marine. Now let's see how you handle actually walking…"

* * *

"Okay, so that was harder than I expected." Arizona admitted, slumping down in the nearest sofa with a thud, sweat shining off of her brow after following Callie into her apartment.

The place seemed nice. The decor wasn't exactly what Arizona would have personally chosen, but for Callie, it worked, it suited her. The high end finish was obvious, but the place didn't scream pretentiousness or money, it was practical, but homey, and the sofas were definitely some of the comfiest that Arizona had experienced in a long time.

"Mmhmm…" Callie replied, emerging from what Arizona assumed was the kitchen, a glass of ice cool water in hand.

Immediately seeing the water, Arizona licked her lips subconsciously.

"You are too good to me, Calliope Torres." Arizona smiled, holding her hands out expectantly for the glass, the sweet liquid that was going to revive her sweat soaked body.

" I know." Callie stated before placing the glass against her lips, taking a theatrically large gulp of the colourless liquid. Callie smacked her lips together, emphasising just how good the water tasted in her mouth.

"Hey! I thought that was for me!" Arizona cried in mock disgust. She knew full well the game Callie was playing, and she wasn't ready for this beautiful torture to end yet , even if it was somewhat masochistic on her part. Arizona just had to wait long enough for the surgeon's plan to backfire…

"Oh." Callie continued innocently, a playful glint in her chocolate eyes sending heat coursing through Arizona's body. "Sorry. You wanted this?"

Callie pointed towards the now half full glass, running her finger lightly over the condensation that had formed on the vessel before bringing that same finger to her lips, rubbing it gently across them, moaning lightly.

"Jesus…" Arizona whispered to herself, shaking her head slightly to try and regain some semblance of rational thought. This woman had her hotter than she could remember and she hadn't even touched a finger to Arizona's now heated skin yet.

"How much do you want it?" Callie asked, her voice was low and sultry, daring Arizona to make the next move, praying for the blonde marine to come undone right here and now, in front of her.

Taking another audible gulp of the water, Callie moaned contentedly, tilting her head back in pleasure.

"Oh my God, Arizona…" Callie moaned, her eyes closing slightly at the sensation. "Oh my God, it's so good… Arizona…"

"Calliope…" Arizona whispered, her body not allowing her to make a noise any louder. Clamping her eyes shut and legs together desperately trying to find some sort of friction to ease the throbbing that was growing between the two limbs.

"Calliope… please…" Arizona begged, no longer being able to withstand the torture of being so far away from the surgeon, when all she wanted was…

"What Arizona..?" Callie asked, her breathing ragged as she turned her gaze upon the blonde.

What Callie saw made her breath hitch. Arizona's face was flushed, hands gripping the sides of her leather sofa until her knuckles were white, her bright blue eyes no longer bright, but rather resembling the darkness of the ocean at night.

"How much do you want it..?" Callie breathed almost silently.

The atmosphere in the room was palpable, thick and suffocating, but neither party wanted to move, wanted to break the trance that had overcome them.

"It's not the water that I want…" Arizona finally growled, her voice predatory and primal, as a hunter about to finally tackle their elusive prey, the eye contact never faltering between the two women.

Before she could process anything, Callie's body was on top of hers, the feeling of the sofa tipping under the force the last thing Arizona could remember before hitting the ground, cushions from the sofa flying haphazardly across the room. Arizona wasn't the only one who had come undone at Callie's game, it seemed.

Laughing heartily, Arizona grabbed Callie's hips, pulling them infinitely closer to her own, wanting to feel the warmth of Callie's body across her own, the electric feel of Callie's olive skin on hers.

Callie moaned wantonly into the hungry kisses Arizona was placing across her jaw line, the blonde nipping lightly at the Latina's ear lobe and sending jolts of electricity through Callie's body that she was sure she shouldn't be feeling when they were only making out…

Callie moaned once again, burying her head into the shoulder of the blonde, running her hands sensually into Arizona's tresses, trying to find some leverage to deepen their kiss, despite their bodies already being flush together.

Reading Callie's desire to get closer, Arizona flipped the two of them over expertly, her body now on top of the Latina's as she immediately thrust her thigh between Callie's legs, using her arms to keep most of the weight off her injured limbs, but still allowing her to apply the necessary amount of pressure, moving her leg in a slow kneading motion.

Callie gasped, her eyes widening in shock and pleasant surprise. Her body was aching for friction to ease the throbbing between her thighs, the wetness that had pooled there growing by the second. Somehow, Arizona had already known what she had needed, and it only served to turn the surgeon on more.

This time it was Callie's turn to mark her territory, sucking ravenously on Arizona's neck. There was something primal about staking claim, marking your territory, and Callie wanted everybody to know that Arizona was hers. The shiver of Arizona's body as Callie blew gently on her artwork was mirrored by Callie's own body as Arizona sent another meaningful thrust into her core with a strong leg.

Moaning as another shockwave passed through her body, it was all Callie could do to beg Arizona to end her torture. She needed release now, it seemed, more than she'd ever needed it in her life.

"Arizona, please…"

Resisting the urge to torment her lover, the way Calliope had tormented her earlier, Arizona got quickly to work, understanding the need in her partner's voice.

Speeding up her movements, Arizona managed to balance her weight on one hand, using the other to slip beneath the waistband of Callie's scrubs and beneath her panties.

Callie gasped at the change in sensation, the juxtaposition of cool fingers against her heated core only increasing her need.

Easing the pressure with her knee, Arizona began to rub small but quick circles across the brunette's throbbing clit, broadening the strokes as she felt the surgeon's hips begin to buck against her, the marine taking this as her cue to take matters one step further, thrusting two fingers deep within the Latina, meeting Callie's body thrust for thrust.

Wasting no time, Arizona quickly put her fingers to work in fast, deep thrusting pumps, curling her fingers on every other thrust as Callie's breathing became deeper, more erratic, her hips bucking more and more violently.

"Arizona…" Callie moaned, her voice laced with sex.

Callie breathing her name like that was all the impetus that Arizona required to bring the brunette, metaphorically, to her knees, giving one last thrust with curled fingers, Arizona nipped gently at the hardened nipple visible beneath the surgeon's scrub top, spiking intense pleasure with sweet pain to send the Latina toppling over the edge.

Watching the brunette's face contort as Callie let out a series of guttural moans brought a smile to the blonde's lips as she extricated her previously occupied fingers. Gently kissing Callie's cheeks, forehead and every inch of exposed skin she could get to as the Latina came down off her high, Arizona collapsed in a heap atop of Calliope, her breathing ragged and uneven, mirroring the Latina's own breaths, her arms no longer willing to bear her weight.

"Dios Mios." Callie breathed heavily beneath Arizona, the feeling of her chest rising up and down beneath the blonde doing nothing to quell that amazing, yet painful feeling of anticipation that had gnawed its way into her lower stomach.

"Yeah…" Was all Arizona managed to reply, the burning in her legs and arms definitely worth the look that had overcome Calliope just as she was on the brink… "Definitely…"

"So much for nothing happening..."

* * *

"Where'd you learn to cook like that Calliope?! It was delicious!" Arizona mumbled happily into the brunette's legs, the marine laying on the sofa to take weight off her legs, with her head cradled upon Callie's comfortable lap.

Once Callie had recovered from their earlier... Escapades... Callie had returned to the kitchen to heat up the beef bourguignon that she had prepared a day earlier, much to her relief. She wasn't sure that she would have been capable of putting together even the simplest meal after what had happened earlier.

"Thank you." Callie blushed, slightly embarrassed by Arizona's compliment, despite the fact that people had raved about her cooking multiple times - Mark chief among them.

"Just what the doctor ordered!" Arizona exclaimed, rubbing small circles in the brunette's long legs, yawning slightly.

Callie shook her head and smiled, placing a soft kiss in Arizona's blonde tresses. Arizona was such a goof sometimes.

"Thank you." Arizona said quietly, her quiet words carrying a weight that was oddly juxtaposed by her tiredness.

"Anytime, babe." Calliope smiled, looking down happily at the blonde in her lap. "Anytime. I enjoy cooking, especially for people that say it's delicious, so…"

"No, Calliope." Arizona lifted her head from Callie's lap, locking her sapphire eyes with Callie's chocolate ones in order to convey all the feelings, the gratitude, the happiness that Callie made her feel.

The love…

"Thank you." Arizona repeated, wanting to reinforce her gratitude yet again, because in all honesty, Arizona knew that even 1 million thank yous wouldn't be enough.

"Oh." Callie whispered, the blush only increasing across her tanned cheeks.

"For… For everything, Calliope. Thank you." Arizona brought her hand up to Callie's face, cupping her cheek gently before dropping a short but sweet kiss upon enticing lips.

Pulling away, Arizona smiled contentedly at the surgeon above her, her eyes drinking in every facet of Callie's face to take with her into her fastly approaching dreams. Leaning up once again to capture the Latina's lips before sleep overtook her, Arizona ran her hand gently across Callie's neck, the feel of the marine's hands ghosting across her skin giving Callie the most magnificent goose bumps.

Sliding her tongue gently into Arizona's waiting mouth, Callie took her time with the kiss, nothing needing to be rushed, nothing but pure contentment oozing from every pore of her being.

Arizona smiled as the kiss broke, her eyes drooping slightly as tiredness threatened to overcome her. Pecking Calliope's lips one last time, taking one last hit of the drug that had her so sweetly and so absolutely addicted before resting her head comfortably in the surgeon's lap, her eyes fluttering closed.

'_Damn…'_Callie thought as she touched her lips to the marine's forehead. There was no way that she could resist Arizona, no way that – when the marine smiled at her with those dimples, with those eyes – Callie could deny her anything. She was in deeper than she thought, and strangely enough, Callie thought, a smile playing on her lips, she didn't mind at all.

* * *

**A/N 2: A little bit more LOTR in there. Sorry, couldn't help myself! I love motorbikes. Love 'em. I know they can be dangerous and all, but damn. If I had enough money, I know exactly what bike I'd get… So if anyone would like to donate me, let's say… around $15000, I'd be much obliged ;)**

**I wrote this chapter instead of studying for finals. I've also been to the gym 4 times in 3 days, all in the name of procrastination. I am an amazing and dedicated student. Probably also explains my earlier A/N… **

**Have a good day guys, and if you have finals, or another exam of any kind, then good luck! **


	13. Te Amo

**SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM **

**A/N: So… no more finals! Yay! Bring on Christmas! Yay! Presents! Yay! Jesus! Yay! Santa! WOOOO!**

**What did you guys make of the (albeit annoyingly small) Calzona interaction this week? I hope that Callie's little speech will be the catalyst that Arizona needs to get her mojo back. Arizona the way she is at the moment is just... weird. Realistic, but weird.  
**

**I want to apologise for the random author's note last time around. It was a bit crazed. None of that this time. No sir. Also, any typos or weirdness going on in this chapter that I haven't caught, PM me and I'll try and get it sorted ASAP. Wrote half of this with a hint of jet lag, so I lay the blame on that!  
**

**Token Disclaimer: Not owned, not for profit, but just for fun :)  
**

* * *

**Chapter 12: ****Te amo**

"Hey Blondie!" Mark grinned, throwing down a chart at the end of Arizona's bed before perching himself on the side. "Big day is fast approaching!"

"Yep." Arizona forced a smile. It was a week to the day before she was finally going to be discharged, a week before she no longer had to stay confined permanently, well, almost, to the inside of the four walls of Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital. It's not that she wasn't happy that she was going to be able to get out of this place, but it meant that she wasn't going to be able to see a certain Latina almost all day, every day, which sucked.

"Don't look so glum, you'll still see Callie all the time, you are still going to be an outpatient, after all." Mark continued, not falling for the blonde's forced cheerfulness.

"Oh yeah... And how do you know that I'm not transferring my care and going to live with my parents, eh?" Arizona retorted childishly, crossing her arms over her chest in such an over dramatic fashion that it made Mark snort a laugh.

"Because Callie is the best orthopaedic surgeon this side of the Mississippi, and in my opinion, in this whole fine nation, so of course you aren't going to transfer to some other doctor who doesn't know squat." Mark replied, never missing a beat. His loyalty to his friend was almost as overwhelming as the truth in his words.

"Plus, you looove her," Mark smirked, never one to miss an opportunity to make the marine blush.

"Shut it, Sloan!" Arizona smirked, swatting him playfully on the arm as Mark continued to make exaggerated kissing noises, moaning what sounded like a mixture of Callie and Arizona's names. "Euurgh! You are infuriating, you know that?"

"And that's why you love me." Mark smiled, receiving only a shake of the head in reply from the blonde.

Things had gotten easier between the two of them, Mark often coming to visit Arizona when he found he had spare time and Lexie was busy in surgery or in the ER. They talked, and not just about obtuse sexual things, but actually talked. Sure, most of the time it was Arizona wanting to know every little detail that Mark knew about Callie, or Mark whining to the marine about how he loved Lexie and how he didn't want to ruin their relationship in the same way he had done with some person named Addison… But it was nice, having a visitor. It was nice, so much so, that Arizona might actually, tentatively, call the two of them friends…

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, Sloan." Arizona teased, squirming around a bit in her wheelchair to try and get comfortable, something which she was pretty sure was impossible in this contraption.

"C'mon, Robbins, the sooner you admit to it, the better it will be for all of us." Mark continued, picking at his nails, feigning complete sincerity.

"Admit what?" A familiar voice asked from the doorway asked, causing Arizona and Mark to turn their attention simultaneously towards the source of the sound.

"Hey Momma" Arizona smiled, returning the hug that her mother had almost attacked her with as soon as she entered the room. "Mark was just trying to get me to admit that I am madly, irrevocably and completely in love with him."

"Hmm…" Barbara hummed, looking between the two, Mark's face mirroring the purple hue of a beet within seconds of being ratted out by a now extremely smug ex-marine. "Well, I'm sorry Mark, but as long as I've known my daughter, she has been the biggest, most stalwart lover of ladies, I'm afraid, and I don't think much is going to change that. You remember that poster you used to have on your wall of Cindy Crawford, hon? That poster was definitely…"

"Of more than just her mole." Arizona finished with a nostalgic sigh, almost smiling as she remembered the poster fondly before swiftly wiping the grin off her face. Her mother was still in the room, after all.

"Huh." Mark chuckled, crossing his arms loosely across his chest as he stood from the side of Arizona's bed.

"What?" Arizona asked, slightly bemused by Mark's odd reaction, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"It's just…" Looking between Mrs. Robbins and Arizona, Mark decided that the details of this conversation probably weren't something that he really wanted Mrs. Robbins to overhear. Leaning in and cupping a hand around Arizona's ear, Mark began whispering conspiratorially with the blonde, a smirk appearing on the marine's lips as Mark finished confessing and confirming details with her.

"Well, well, Dr. Sloan." Arizona smirked. "It seems that we have something else in common besides Calliope."

Mark barked a short laugh, making both women jump slightly at the sudden noise before Arizona joined Mark, snorting in a most ladylike fashion.

"How is Callie, dear?" Barbara asked, choosing to ignore Mark and Arizona's private aside as she took the seat next to Arizona's unoccupied bed, genuinely interested in how the young surgeon was. Not only could Barbara see that Callie was important to her daughter, but Barbara had formed a friendship with the Latina also over the time that the surgeon had been treating her daughter, chatting on the phone, not just about Arizona's treatment, but about the weather, about cooking, which Arizona had recently admitted, Calliope excelled at. Barbara couldn't have been happier that Callie was part of Arizona's life, and hers. The only thing that made her heart ache was the circumstances under which they'd all had to meet – although they say somethings happen for a reason, right?

Arizona couldn't help herself when a wide grin instantly plastered itself across her face. If there was need of any evidence that Arizona Robbins was completely besotted with one Calliope Torres, someone obviously seriously needed to get their eyes tested.

"Perfect." Arizona grinned, just the thought of the Latina sending a warm feeling through her body from fingers to toes, images of the night Callie had taken her to her apartment welcomingly flooding Arizona's vision.

"Okay…" Mark sighed, clapping his hands to break Arizona out of her lovesick stupor. "I'm going to leave before I puke."

Arizona scoffed. Mark was just as bad as her, and he knew it.

"Like you aren't the same with Little Grey, Sloan." Arizona retorted, her face daring him to deny what everyone in the hospital already knew.

"Psshh… Me?" Mark asked incredulously, backing his way slowly out of the room and out of reach of the marine. "I am the epitome of cool. I am an island, Robbins. An extremely hot, most probably Carribbean, island."

"Yeah, maybe in your dreams Mark." Arizona replied happily. Maybe she was lovesick, but maybe, just maybe, she didn't mind that fact one tiny bit.

"It was good to see you again Mrs. Robbins." Mark nodded politely at the elder Robbins before quickly ducking out of the room and out of the line of fire.

"By the way Arizona, nice hickey!" Mark yelled loud enough so that Arizona was sure that the whole hospital had heard, making her cringe internally. Nothing spread faster in this hospital than gossip, not even syphilis, and that, as far as Arizona had been led to believe, spread like wildfire. Not to mention that her mother was still in the room... Mark was going to be in for it the next time she saw him...

"Bastard" Arizona whispered, a deep red blush instantly gracing her usually porcelain complexion. Maybe that would mask the hickey from her mother...

"He seems… Nice." Barbara stated, seemingly, once again, ignoring Mark's parting statement as she rose from her chair moments after Mark had made his quick exit. "You two seem to have a good rapport, it almost reminds me of…"

"Momma…" Arizona interrupted, suddenly tired. She really didn't want her mum to liken her relationship with Mark to the one she'd had with her brother. Sure, Mark was a nice enough guy, but it wasn't the same. Maybe it would be similar, in time, but nothing would ever be the same as what she'd had with her brother. They were siblings, had 'grown up' together, had had years of being complete shits to each other, but loving each other fiercely despite that, in the way only siblings can. It wasn't the same.

"I know Zona… I wouldn't want it to be like that. I'm just saying it's good. It's healthy, is all." Barbara sighed, picking her purse up from where she had placed it beside the chair, sorting out her jacket before turning her gaze upon her pride and joy.

"Okay." Arizona exhaled, a sudden tension in the air that was rarely ever present between her mother and herself. Luckily, Barbara readily changed the topic, getting to the heart of the entire purpose of the day.

"Ready to go apartment shopping?"

Arizona inhaled a deep breath, steeling herself for what the day ahead was about to bring. Screw war, screw Black Friday. Apartment hunting. Now that was some deadly stuff.

"As ready as I'll ever be!"

* * *

"Well this one is nice 'Zona." Barbara said, the weariness that had invaded her voice dissipating slightly at the sight of the apartment before her.

The apartment was light and spacious. It was an open plan design, with a kitchen that was large, but didn't make the living space seem cramped. There was a fireplace, and the windows were floor to ceiling, letting in all the natural light that the Seattle weather would allow.

Seeing Arizona looking through the window, the sales rep took no time before he was talking up the place, making it out to be the best thing since sliced bread.

"The windows are reinforced, triple glazed for sound deadening and energy efficiency. They're south facing and self-cleaning, so also get the best sunlight throughout the year, without ever needing to be cleaned manually." The sales person spewed, obviously well versed in his sales pitch.

"How many bedrooms does it have?" Arizona asked, wheeling herself further into the apartment to get a better view. It seemed finding an apartment in Seattle that was reasonably priced, had wheelchair access and didn't smell like something had died in the walls was harder than hitting a gnat with an MP40 at 100 paces. Her mother and herself had been at it for the best part of the day, and only now had they found anything habitable, or what could be described, as her mother had put it, as 'nice'.

"Two." The sales rep replied quickly, walking towards a door at the opposite side of the room, Arizona and Barbara following closely behind. "Both have en suite bathrooms and are large enough to fit king size beds, with ample space to spare."

"How do you like it?" Barbara asked distractedly, sweeping her eyes across the rooms herself.

Arizona looked around. She could see herself here, could picture herself living here, being happy here, bringing Callie here after a perfect date and not being able to keep her hands off of her here. Of course, Arizona wasn't completely surprised by the layout of the apartment. It was pretty much the same as one she'd visited not long ago in this very complex. Something that was definitely a plus in Arizona's book.

"Arizona..?" Barbara asked, kneeling down in front of her daughter, a look of worry etched across her face. Arizona must've zoned out for a moment there.

"Umm…" Arizona mumbled, trying to process her mother's question. "Yeah. It's nice. Uhh… I like it."

The sales rep simply smiled in reply, writing something on the clipboard that he'd carried around with him the entire tour.

"Which floor was this again?" Arizona asked, wheeling her way deeper into the bedroom, opening the door to a newly refurbished bathroom, equipped with one of the biggest showers Arizona had ever seen. Oh… The fun she could have in that with a certain Latina goddess…

"The 5th floor, ma'am." The sales representative replied politely, obviously sensing a potential sell in the air. "Apartment 516A."

The fifth floor… Arizona smirked. Callie was going to be in for a surprise when she found out about this…

"I'll take it." Arizona replied forcefully, Barbara giving her daughter a shocked look.

"Arizona, shouldn't you…" Barbara tried to argue, wanting to make sure that her daughter had totally thought this through before making one of the biggest purchases of her life, and potentially one of the biggest mistakes.

"It's fine Mom. I know what I'm doing." Arizona replied, smiling reassuredly to her mother, trying to ease her tension. "I think…"

Barbara simply rolled her eyes at the response and started pacing across the stained floorboards of the apartment. She was always scared that Arizona's bold headedness and propensity for brash decisions would cause her to end up making some huge mistakes. She didn't want her daughter to be put through any more pain or headaches than she had to be – emotionally or physically - especially after everything she'd already been through. No mother wanted to see their child anything but happy, healthy and safe.

"Plus from what I've seen, this place is the best that I'm going to be able to get that is close to the hospital, has good wheelchair access and is within my price range." Arizona locked her gaze with her mother. "This isn't some brash decision that I'm going to regret. This isn't the Chewbacca/Han Solo debacle all over again." Arizona assured, Barbara only rolling her eyes yet again as she remembered the fall out of Arizona's apparently ill advised decision to buy a Chewbacca figurine before Han Solo.

The whole world had, apparently, whilst Barbara wasn't looking, fallen apart over night because of the fact that, as Arizona had argued (and Tim had wholeheartedly agreed) Chewie and Han Solo couldn't exist separately. Rather, they were a symbiotic being, attached psychologically and emotionally to each other in an irrevocable manner, displaying the bonds of brotherhood and similarities between all living beings with a higher brain function who need to form social and societal groups with those whose beliefs and ideals mirror their own through a range of floating signifiers. Basically, Arizona should have waited until she'd had enough money to buy both figures at the same time, but she just couldn't help herself.

"This place is really nice, Momma." Arizona reinforced sincerely, hoping that her mother would see that she wasn't going to regret this, and if she did, then it would be her mistake and her burden to bear. It wasn't like she couldn't just move out.

"If you're sure…" Barbara replied, still hesitant despite her daughter's words easing her nerves a bit. She would always support her daughter's decisions no matter what. Anyways, she was a grown woman after all. She just wanted her to make sure that they were what she actually wanted.

"I am." Arizona stated confidently, leaving no room for argument.

"Okay then." Barbara conceded, holding her hands out towards the realtor, gesturing for Arizona to make the deal.

"I'd like to take up the lease."

* * *

"Hey stranger." Callie grinned, seeing that Arizona was back in her room. The surgeon had been back and forwards to the marine's room all day, but the blonde had been annoyingly absent.

"Hey yourself." Arizona replied happily as Callie gave her a quick kiss on the lips before flopping down in the bedside chair, using the bed itself as a makeshift foot stool.

"Where've you been all day? I've missed you." Callie pouted, stretching her arms out before relaxing completely into the chair, glad of some down time after a long day.

"I've missed you too. Today has been hectic to say the least." Arizona replied wearily, stifling a yawn as the thoughts of looking around countless apartments for hours on end came back to her.

"Tell me about it." Callie agreed, mirroring Arizona's sentiment with a mighty yawn of her own. "Semi versus people carrier doesn't usually end well."

Arizona winced. That sounded bad. Callie had probably had to deal with some nasty cases today, perhaps even on children. Working on kids always got to Calliope, which Arizona fully understood. It took a special kind of someone to be a surgeon and work on tiny humans all day long, losing some of them and still being able to keep moving, to go forward and save the next child. She guessed that's the thing that kept people going, knowing that there was another child out there that needed their help. Arizona wasn't sure she was strong enough to do something like that.

"Wanna talk about it?" Arizona asked quietly, scoohing over in her bed, holding her arms out to the surgeon, inviting her into her cocoon.

"Not really." Callie mumbled, crawling into the bed beside Arizona before burrowing herself into the marine.

There was something about the smell of Arizona that instantly brought calm to Callie, made all the shit of the day seem to weigh slightly less on her shoulders, made it easier the surgeon her just to exist knowing that Arizona was by her side.

"Okay." Arizona didn't push. She knew better than most that sometimes you just needed to work through some issues by yourself first, and maybe, if you wanted to tell somebody, you would. But in your own time. Arizona understood that.

"Tell me about your day." Callie murmured into Arizona's chest, the feel of her voice, of Callie's warm breath on her chest sending sublime shivers down the marine's spine.

"Well…" Arizona drawled, stroking her hand gently through the Latina's silky hair. "I went apartment hunting with my mom…"

Callie immediately jumped up at Arizona's admission, a guilty look plastering her face, the pain in her eyes completely out of proportion to her crime.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry, I totally forgot! I…" Callie started to ramble, which Arizona found infinitely cute.

"It's okay, Calliope, really, you had bigger things to worry about." Arizona gave Callie a quick kiss to stop her needless apologies.

Smiling in thanks, Callie ghosted her fingers lightly across the marine's jawline before returning Arizona's short but sweet kiss.

"How did it go?" Callie asked the blonde quietly, curious as to how the blonde had found apartment hunting in her fair city. Callie thought she'd personally been extremely fortunate finding her own apartment. It was close to the hospital, had an amazing view over the city and was pretty cheap for the number or rooms, the quality of the finish and the neighbourhood. The surgeon just hoped that Arizona had been as lucky as she had.

"It went okay. It went well, actually, kinda." Arizona shrugged. She'd found an apartment, a great apartment, so that bit definitely had gone better than well, but the rest of the day had been arduous, tortuous and strangely monotonous when factoring in some of the more 'colourful' places she'd been to view during the day.

Callie fixed Arizona with a confused stare, silently asking her to explain how something could kinda go okay/well. Arizona really wasn't being all that clear.

"Well…" Arizona began settling back into the bed to get more comfortable. "At first we couldn't find anywhere, everywhere seemed to smell like gone off cat food, or there were leaks in the wall or wheelchair access that actually turned out to be a skate ramp type of set up where I would actually of had to fly at least 3 foot in my wheelchair to bridge the gap between the sidewalk and the lobby."

Callie knitted her eyebrows in concentration as she tried to imagine Arizona launching herself over the gap, Rambo style, decked out in full BDUs with a bandana, rifle strapped to her chair and a hunting knife gripped possessively between her teeth. Not to forget the war paint - that was always an important. The BDUs… How Callie wished she'd have gotten to see Arizona in her uniform, that was something that Callie was sure was going to be very, very sexy.

"The offer still stands, I would love it if you would come and live with me." Callie replied shrugging off her increasingly hot day dream, already having broached this topic with the blonde. She understood Arizona's reasoning as to why she didn't want to move in just yet, but it still didn't mean she wasn't going to try and change the blonde's mind.

As much as Arizona was tempted to say yes, as much as she would love to live with Calliope, see her everyday, wake up to her every morning, it just kept playing in Arizona's that it was too soon, that they hadn't really gotten to know each other outside of the hospital. Arizona knew it probably looked silly from the outside, and from Callie's perspective, but she had to do this right. This was too important to screw up. Too important to dive in head first without thinking about the consequences. This time, she was thinking about things like her mother would want her to, not like she had always done in everything else in her life, because before now, it hadn't really mattered if she'd screwed up. She could fix those things, or they weren't that important to begin with. This on the other hand. This was definitely too important.

So she was going to take this slow for now. If they ended up moving in together at the end of the month, then so be it, but Arizona wanted to make sure that their relationship was going to be just as strong when she was outside of the hospital compared to when she was inside - compared to now.

"Calliope…" Arizona drawled, attempting to stop the Latina from tempting her.

"I know… And you're right." Callie sighed, nuzzling herself closer into Arizona's arms. "I'm sorry that you couldn't find anywhere babe."

"It's okay, hon." Arizona replied, kissing the top of Callie's head with a small smirk on her lips. "We managed to find somewhere in the end, so it all worked out."

"You did?!" Callie exclaimed, locking eyes with the blonde, the pair of them grinning at each other like the Cheshire cat and his less sinister twin.

"Yep." Arizona stated simply, kissing Callie squarely on the nose before closing her eyes, ready for some much needed sleep.

"Well…" Callie asked anxiously, nudging the blonde gently when it appeared that that was all Arizona was going to divulge on the matter. "Aren't you going to tell me what it's like, where it is?! Anything?!"

Opening her eyes and smirking at the beautiful surgeon, Arizona giggled mischievously.

"That, Calliope Torres." Arizona breathed quietly as though she was imparting some top secret knowledge, drawing the brunette closer to her until their noses were practically touching. "Is a surprise. Something for me to know and for you to find out."

"Meanie." Callie moaned unhappily, turning her back to the marine, crossing her arms in across her chest whilst puffing angrily.

Arizona laughed, amused by the childlike response from the usually composed and authoritative surgeon. She must have been rubbing off on Calliope.

"Yep." Arizona smiled, kissing Callie gently on the shoulder blade through her dark blue scrubs. "But for some reason, you still like me."

"I have no idea why." Callie replied grumpily, still refusing to turn back around and make eye contact with her tormentor.

"Might it have something to do with the fact that I am dynamite in bed?" Arizona asked, continuing her oral ministrations to Callie's back, moving to her bare neck, making Callie's skin tingle pleasantly. "And you can't keep your hands off me."

"Maybe." Callie breathed, her breath starting to become slightly more laboured.

"Or the fact that when I'm in the room your brain can't function and it feels like if you don't concentrate hard enough, you'll forget how to breathe?" Arizona whispered, her lips just milimeters from Callie's ear now, the feel of her moist, warm breath making Callie close her eyes involuntarily.

"Wait… How did you know about that one?" Callie asked, turning back to the marine as she finally processed Arizona's last comment. It was completely true, but had she been so obvious in her ogling of the blonde that Arizona had picked up that easily on it? Probably. She wasn't all that closeted in her ogling of Arizona, not since the whole crazy shooter incident. Life was just too short.

"Because it's what happens to me Calliope. Every time you step foot in the room." Arizona admitted freely. She didn't care that Callie had that effect on her, even though, if it were anyone else, she'd probably have wanted to curl up into a ball and die if they found out that they had that kind of power over her. "Every time I see you it's like everything else stops and there's only you."

Arizona couldn't help herself. Looking at Callie now, everything in her world seemed to make sense. Everything that she couldn't line up, everything that had eluded her, everything that had happened to her, it all culminated in getting her here. Getting her to Calliope Torres, because, Arizona was sure, Callie was her soul mate.

"I love you." Arizona whispered softly in the brunette's ear needing to verbalise her feelings to Callie, needing Callie to know, explicitly, how she felt.

"You do?" Callie asked almost self-consciously, the pink blush that had come to grace her cheeks being complemented by a shy smile.

"I do." Arizona reaffirmed, dimples at full force as her hands cupped Callie's cheeks tenderly, stroking her soft skin with the pads of her thumbs.

"I love you too."

* * *

Finally getting off the phone with the realtor, sealing the deal on what was now Arizona's new apartment, Barbara stopped in her tracks as she reached the door to her daughter's room. Looking into the small space, Barbara's heart felt as though it was going to explode with joy. Obviously exhausted by their busy days, Callie was curled up protectively in her daughter's arms, the surgeon's hands gripping Arizona's possessively, as if making sure that she wasn't going anywhere. Barbara was sure that the look of contentment on Callie's face was mirrored by her daughter's if she could see it - it being obscured by the surgeons long raven hair, which Arizona seemed to have nestled into.

Stepping quietly out of the room, Barbara smiled, contentedly deciding that she should probably catch up on some sleep herself, although she was certain that it wasn't going to be a sweet or restful as Callie and Arizona's.

* * *

**A/N 2: So how was it? No M this time. Still not sure on that whole chestnut, but I'll do my best. Maybe next chapter. Thinking we need more progress on the cartilage soon, and maybe, just maybe we'll all find out where Arizona is living…**

**Thanks for reading! Hopefully I'll manage to get another chapter out before Chrimbobmas, but we'll see! Happy Holidays guys!**


	14. Ubi cor ibi domus

**SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM**

**A/N: Another chapter! Whatever next?! It must be a holiday of some sort!**

**To answer ****kln's ****question in a very lovely review, I don't actually speak Latin per se, but I did study it for a while! The translations are mainly sayings by philosophers etc., so they're usually translated as a whole phrase rather than separate words. I guess it's like when you're reading a text such as 'The Art of War', or any other translated text for that matter, and there are many different interpretations of what is written, but, in the end, they are mean pretty much the same thing – they all catch the same drift. For example, the literal translation for this chapter title is: where the heart (is), there (is) home. It's perfectly normal in Latin, but sounds kinda weird in English, right? So we translate is as 'home is where the heart is'!**

**I've put a list of what all the different chapter titles mean in A/N 2 at the bottom :) Haven't proof-read yet, so sorry for any mistakes!  
**

**Thanks again for all the reviews, story favourites and follows, guys. They are better than all the Christmas food in the world put together! Including a mountain made entirely out of pigs in blankets. PIGS IN BLANKETS!**

**Now…To the chapter! There are some mentions of Despicable Me, but I don't think anything that would constitute a spoiler, but if you haven't seen it yet, why not? And be wary… Also, I am formally issuing a smut alert for this chapter. Merry Christmas ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Ubi cor ibi domus**

_BANG!_

"Eerrrrrrghh…" Callie groaned into her pillow. Looking over at her alarm clock, the numbers glowing an ominous red colour that permeated the (almost) complete darkness. Seeing that the numbers only read 07:30, Callie groaned again and pulled her pillow over her ears. Whoever was banging around this early in the morning in her apartment complex would be feeling her wrath right now if it was only about… 2 hours later. Callie never got up this early on a day off, and a little bit of noise wasn't going to ruin her sleep. She could sleep through this, heck, she'd slept through enough of Meredith and Christina's drunken tequila nights (the ones that she wasn't a keen and eager participant of, of course) and they never ended up being the quietest things, so Callie could handle this.

_BANG!_

Callie closed her eyes tighter, angry lines being drawn into her forehead, trying to summon up some sort of Jedi powers to stop the noises with her mind.

She'd gotten in late the night before after finally getting some good news from the FDA regarding her cartilage. It was going to be allowed to go to clinical trial, and Arizona's name was the first one that Callie had put forward as a candidate. It wasn't going one of those blind trials, where some patients were given a placebo and others the active substance, everyone in this trial was going to be given the cartilage, after all, what use was a placebo going to be? The danger was minimal, the artificial cartilage could be removed if rejection was an issue and giving these people false hope of returning to a life that they'd had before their cartilage damage had stopped them from walking, stopped them from being able to hold their own children, stopped them from doing the simple things in life that most people took for granted, was pretty cruel in Callie's opinion.

Getting all the paperwork sorted out, working out the logistics and finding people willing to help her undertake the trial had taken lot of time, and a lot of favours/bribes being called in, but Callie wanted the best, so she'd put in the effort and the hours to make sure that the team of surgeons she had with her in the OR were the best for the job. Mark had been an easy sell. She had so much dirt on him that if he had been stupid enough to decline her kind offer - which, luckily for him, he hadn't - to help in the making of medical history, he probably wouldn't be able to set foot in the hospital for at least the next ten years without one person or another wanting to sock him one in the jaw. Derek, on the other hand, was a bit more of a hard sell, but he'd come through in the end. She had her dream team.

_BANG, BANG, BANG!_

What in the actual name of God was happening over there? Callie sighed. It was obvious that she didn't possess any remarkable Jedi powers, which sucked. Resigning herself to the fact that she was now awake, Callie pulled the covers off of her body, shivering as her legs were exposed to the cold, early morning air.

Caffeine… Her body needed caffeine…

Swinging her legs deftly over the side of the bed, Callie wandered sleepily from the bedroom and into the kitchen, flicking on the coffee maker, the soft hum exuding from it bringing a small smile to Callie's lips in anticipation of the goodness it was about to bring.

"No, no, not there. Over there." A man's voice boomed from outside her door, making a still groggy Callie wince slightly in pain. This was much too loud for this early in the morning. "Corporal, when I said the south west corner, did I mean for you to put that in the middle of the room? Are there any visible corners in the middle of this room?"

"Uhh…" A small voice replied, the fear audible through the wall. "No… No Sir."

"No. So why is it in the middle of the room then?" The deeper, more commanding voice enquired, an tone of amusement hidden behind the apparently hard words that made Callie chuckle. It must be a military thing, because Arizona did exactly the same thing, only Arizona had had to make do with tormenting the interns, not enlisted soldiers. It was never malicious, but she did like to see the interns squirm sometimes. Lets be honest, was there a person who didn't like to see the interns squirm?

"Yes Sir!" The quick reply came before another loud series of bangs made Callie wince. Despite the amusement from the conversation outside, factoring in the time, Callie's frustration more than outweighed any enjoyment that she may have found from the situation.

Automatically filling her coffee cup with the dark nectar, Callie immediately bought the steaming liquid to her lips, moaning in pleasure as the bitter liquid made its way slowly and silkily down her awaiting oesophagus before Callie made her way purposefully towards her door, the coffee giving her a slightly unorthodox form of liquid courage. Reaching the door, Callie grasped the handle and yanked the door open slightly more forcefully than she'd intended. She was going to ask them, politely, to quieten down, then, maybe, if her body was feeling kind and despite the mugful of coffee that she'd already half finished, she could continue that very nice dream of a certain blonde soldier doing terrible, amazingly mind blowing things to her.

"Excuse me" Callie called, her voice still thick with sleep, although her eyes had managed to fully open by this point, a feat that usually took a good half an hour.

"Tomkins, Vasquez, what's the sitrep?" The commanding voice Callie had identified from within her apartment called, only this time much louder, and strangely familiar.

"Sir, we have 10 boxes left, 5 requiring two man lift, 5 single. Sir." A younger voice replied, one that Callie did not recognise from before, but that she assumed was either of the two aforementioned people.

"Very good, Vasquez. Should only be another 30 minutes by my estimation and then we're oscar mike."

Finally shaking off the last cobwebs of sleep, Callie took in the scene in front of her. There were about 5 men, all dressed in military uniform moving boxes into the apartment opposite whilst an older gentleman, also dressed in military garb seemed to be overseeing the operation with, naturally, military precision.

Who exactly was moving into that apartment? The United States Marine Corps? If this was their idea of a covert safe house or something like that, then they really weren't being all that covert about things - at not even 8:00 in the morning.

Scratching her head in confusion as much as frustration, Callie cleared her throat noisily, opening her mouth to attempt to attract the attention of the older gentleman in charge again before…

"Morning Corporal." An unmistakable voice sang into the early morning air, the hairs on the back of Callie's neck standing to attention at the noise, the anticipation of the blonde's touch, the memories being sparked up just by the sound erecting the hairs on her arms. "Fine day today."

But… It made no sense. Why would Arizona be here? At this time of the morning? Yes, she had officially been discharged from the hospital the night before, Callie had signed the paperwork herself, but…

"Sure is, Lieutenant Robbins, ma'am." The voice of Vasquez echoed around the long hallway, tired yet sincere.

Lieutenant Robbins…

"Calliope." Her girlfriend's voice spoke the way Callie had heard it every day for however many months it had been since Arizona had been bought under the Latina's care, the way that never ceased to send an electric shiver through her spine.

Turning around, Callie almost dropped her precious coffee at the sight before her. Callie had to give credit to her brain, this dream was HD quality, and it had chosen the marine's outfit splendidly. Hello dress uniform…

"Arizona?" Callie asked tentatively, not wanting to lose the perfect image of her girlfriend that her brain had kindly enough created for her.

Swinging deftly on her crutches to reach the brunette, the Arizona forcibly took Callie's lips with her own, her tongue immediately seeking entrance into the warmth that was the Latina's intoxicating mouth. Using her free hand, Arizona caressed Callie's neck with a spidery touch that left tingles down the still shocked Latina's caramel skin. Finally, Callie's brain kicked into gear, her tongue duelling playfully with Arizona's in a dance that seemed almost choreographed. Letting the kiss end by the necessity of oxygen, Arizona laid her forehead gently against her girlfriend's, a content smile on her face as she closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of the Latina.

"Slap me." Callie stated, her face dead serious, the mug of coffee still clenched firmly in her hand, bringing a small smile to the blonde soldier's lips. Callie and her coffee…

"What?" Arizona chuckled, the feeling of her breath on Callie's cheek making the surgeon a little hot under the collar.

"I need you to slap me so that I'm sure that this isn't a dream, that I'm not still sleeping."

"Hmm… Definitely not a dream." Arizona hummed, leaning in to give Callie another kiss, her tongue dancing lightly over the surgeon's lips before deepening the kiss. "Nice Pyjamas, by the way."

Arizona smiled, pulling Callie in once more for a quick kiss before the Latina had the chance to blush at her not quite suitable for work attire. She had what could probably be described as the world's shortest baby blue boy shorts on, showing off tanned, unending legs, with a ragged old, shrunk in the wash, college t-shirt that left, in Arizona's humble opinion, tantalisingly little to the imagination.

"They're kind of turning me on right now, and I would take you into that apartment over there and do all kinds of things to you. Things that are illegal in Alabama, Calliope, I would make you scream my name until you've expelled every single last breath you've ever had and then one because you are, singly, the hottest, sexiest most miraculous thing that I have ever seen." Arizona whispered seductively in Callie's ear, the wetness of her lips tickling Callie's ear as Arizona spoke.

"But I can't. Because my father is over there and he is in Colonel mode, but later… You'd better prepare yourself Calliope." Arizona laughed quietly at Callie's slack mouthed expression. Maybe it was a bit evil of her to have been talking to the surgeon like that this early in the morning. "Good morning, beautiful."

* * *

Arizona was pretty certain that this was going to be one of the easiest moving days in the history of moving days. As a kid, her family had moved around a lot, her and her brother had gotten used to that fact, it was the only life that they'd known. They'd been extremely lucky that Teddy's family had almost always been moved to the same base as theirs, although Arizona wasn't sure how much their parents had had to do with that. Either way, Arizona was grateful. Finding friends when you were only in a place for a year or two max., wasn't the easiest thing in the world, and a part of her always thought that when she did make friends, that she was using them. Maybe that was a bit big headed of her, to believe that she could affect such an effect on another person's life, but Arizona's only human, after all.

Seeing Callie this morning had only made a good day better. She was planning on surprising the brunette later in the day, after she'd gotten everything moved in and settled, letting the surgeon catch up on her much beloved sleep, but seeing her standing at her door in those tight, short, short boy shorts… Arizona couldn't help but take action, could she?

Slumping down in her new leather sofa, Arizona propped her leg up on the coffee table in front of her, the ache in her knee dulling slightly with the elevation. She swept her gaze across her new apartment and allowed herself a small smile. She could feel already that she was going to like it here. Not only because she had two bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a brand new state of the art kitchen or floor to ceiling dozen glazed specially reinforced window. But because the woman she couldn't keep out of her head was literally 10 seconds away from her, in the apartment across the hall, probably taking a shower right now…

Arizona shook her head. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about things like that, especially when her father was going to be back from seeing the boys off to their next assignment within minutes. Nope. She'd have to save those thoughts for later, when she had arranged a house tour with her hot and sexy new neighbour, starting with the master bedroom. The only problem was, Callie had agreed to her father's well intentioned, yet punishingly painful in her current mood, invitation to lunch.

How was she going to keep her hands off Callie when all she really wanted to do was to rip her clothes off and make her shiver beneath her? To see her cheeks flush, her back arch into her own, to feel the electric sensation of skin on skin…

"Hey there soldier." A gruff voice almost growled from the doorway, making Arizona jump slightly in her seat, hoping beyond hope that her father hadn't seen her jump.

"Hey Daddy." Arizona replied her voice slightly hoarser than normal. "The guys get their marching orders?"

Daniel scrunched his eyebrows slightly at the tone of Arizona's voice before letting out a short and stout belly laugh.

"They did indeed." Daniel replied, making his way deeper into the apartment to end up sitting on the arm rest of the sofa at the opposite end to his daughter. "They get to go latrine digging next. I think that should teach them to be tardy to parade practice next time."

Arizona nodded her head knowingly. There had been plenty of times when she was a recruit where her and Teddy, or her and Tim, or all three of them had been brought before some sort of military official and been given a 'detention session'. It was usually for being late, or for talking when they shouldn't have been, but sometimes Arizona couldn't help herself. When you see a pigeon fly face first into a glass window with a spectacular rebound you couldn't just ignore that, could you? She was actually pretty certain that if left to their own devices, Tim and Teddy probably would never have gotten in trouble once…

"So… Did you find somewhere awesome for lunch?" Arizona enquired, her stomach starting to rumble after the day's activities. Everything that used to seem simple to her, like lifting a box or just walking for a day seemed exponentially harder now that her leg was shot. Literally. She'd tried to play it off every time Callie had asked her about it, saying that she didn't sleep well or any other excuse that sounded reasonably plausible, but Arizona could see that the surgeon was having none of it. Not that Callie called her out on it, for which Arizona was thankful.

"I did." The colonel answered, sitting himself next to his daughter on the sofa, copying her stance using the coffee table as a footstall. "It's not actually that far from here, so I thought we could take a nice walk. Take in the fresh air."

Arizona cringed internally. If she wasn't going to admit her weakness to Callie, then she sure as hell wasn't going to admit it to her father, the colonel of the UMSC. Nope.

"When is Callie getting here? I was hoping to get to the restaurant in 30 minutes." Daniel looked down at his watch, obviously trying to work out the timings for some sort of meeting or another. Military life ran on precision, so when her dad said 30 minutes, he meant 30 minutes, not 31, not 29, but 30 minutes.

"She should be here soon daddy. I told her to take her time. It's her day off and she's been really busy lately, so I didn't want her to stress about having to get ready quickly." Arizona soothed. There'd been something grating at Callie the last couple of days, but Arizona hadn't seen the surgeon long enough to interrogate her about it. Arizona reminded herself to ask Callie about it when they both had a spare moment.

A rapping on the door broke Arizona out of her stupor

"That must be her now." Arizona stated, working her way slowly to the edge of the sofa, grasping around for her crutches that had fallen to the floor beside the seat.

"I've got it Arizona." Daniel said over his shoulder, already halfway to the door. So that's where she'd picked up that phrase from.

"Callie." Daniel greeted warmly, "it's good to see you again. I trust you are well."

"Colonel." Callie replied, her tone equally as warm, "I am well, thank you. It's good to see you again too, sir."

Arizona heard her father chuckle at Callie's formalities as she finally made her way to her feet, tweaking the positioning of her crutches under her arms for maximum comfort.

"Hey." Arizona lifted her head to see a gorgeous brunette standing directly in front of her, a smile playing on her lips as she lent in to give the marine a chaste kiss remembering that Daniel was standing not 10 feet away.

"Hey yourself." Arizona replied, mirroring the Latina's smile, the pain and tiredness she'd felt earlier lifting slightly in her presence. "You ready to go? Dad found a restaurant that is within walking distance that's really nice."

Callie scrunched her eyebrows at Arizona's statement, although Arizona wasn't exactly sure why. Perhaps the restaurant that her dad had found wasn't nice at all, but Callie didn't know how to broach the topic with the Colonel, or she really didn't feel like going out..? Whatever it was, Arizona could tell that something wasn't sitting well with her girlfriend.

"Calliope..?" Arizona drawled, trying to get into that complex mind of the Latina.

"Oh sorry…" Callie replied, shooting a reassuring smile in Arizona's direction. "I was just wondering if you'd let me push you in your wheelchair, babe."

Recognition dawned in Arizona's mind. Smiling and kissing the brunette lightly in thanks, Arizona nodded her head in agreement, watching as the brunette made her way over to the chair that had been placed next to the door. She always evaded Callie's questions on the topic, but the Latina always knew.

Calliope Torres really was perfect.

* * *

"Sorry about that." Arizona apologised, realising that she had, for all intents and purposes, held Callie's one day off in two weeks, hostage. There was probably a whole multitude of things that the brunette had wanted to get done or do, but Arizona had sort of blindsided her with a lot today, and that probably wasn't all that fair.

"What do you mean?" The brunette replied in confusion, lifting her head from the shoulder of the marine where it had been resting, the two women having been re-watching Despicable Me on Arizona's brand new plasma screen for what was probably the seventh time. Callie loved the story between Gru and the girls whilst Arizona just couldn't stop laughing at the minions, which, Callie said, was because they were just like her - mischievous and cute all at the same time.

"Having to go to lunch with me and my dad probably wasn't the most fun thing to do on your day off." Arizona continued, her hand rubbing small circles spidery circles upon the Latina's knee as they sat impossibly close on the leather sofa.

"Yeah. I could have been sleeping." Callie deadpanned, looking Arizona in the eye, her exasperated expression asking the blonde if she was actually being serious. Kissing the marine lightly on the lips before returning her head to a very comfortable shoulder/cushion, letting the blonde know she was only joking. "I can promise you there is no other way I'd rather have spent my day off. I love your family almost as much as I love you, so you don't need to apologise, really."

"Hmm..." Arizona hummed sceptically. In truth, she believed the brunette's words. Callie had never lied to her, even when Callie had known that the information she possessed regarding the marine's legs would hurt Arizona, the surgeon had always known that honesty is the best policy. There was no use telling in Callie telling Arizona that the surgery on her legs was going to be a breeze, an easy-going, in an out affair that would leave her feeling as though the RPG attack had all been some crazy dream. That would have helped no-one.

"Besides, there's still a lot of the day left, and I don't have to go in until noon tomorrow, so…" Callie's voice dropped what Arizona thought was at least an octave, her hands beginning to roam "There's plenty of time to do some more… exciting things on my day off…"

"Oh?" Arizona asked innocently, the wry smile that graced her features disappearing as quickly as it had appeared – Callie's lips crashing hungrily upon her own, the surgeon already having managed to straddle her girlfriend with demonic speed.

Returning the kiss with just as much fervour, Arizona grasped the Latina's hips, steadying her girlfriend on the sofa, whilst hooking a thumb under the waistband of her pants, tickling the soft skin she found there and making Callie moan in pleasure.

"Why…" Callie panted in between light kisses she had been administering to the blonde's neck, Arizona repaying the favour in kind. "Are there… So many… Buttons?"

Looking down, Arizona couldn't help but laugh. Callie's hands were working furiously to undo the great multitude of buttons on her dress tunic, struggling to fit the large buttons through the tight fabric.

"Here…" Arizona whispered in the brunette's ear, nipping lightly at the earlobe, eliciting a shocked gasp from Callie. "Let me."

Releasing Callie's hips from her grasp with much dismay, Arizona trailed her hands along the surgeon's sides; her shirt puckering as Arizona's hands moved towards Callie's chest, the Latina's breathing becoming faster with every centimetre. Lifting her arms instinctively, Callie allowed the marine to strip her of her shirt, the article being tossed aside with abandon as Arizona greedily ate up the bare skin it had revealed, her wet tongue rubbing circles over Callie's bra clad chest, the combination of fabric and friction creating an exquisitely painful sensation.

Callie rolled her head back in appreciation; her eyes shut tight to the world as Arizona teased her hard nipple, the sensation of cool air on wet skin as Arizona detached her lips and blew softly on the damp area only serving to increase the throb that had been quickly growing within the Latina's core.

Finally opening her eyes, Callie's breath was robbed from her at the sight below her. Arizona's porcelain skin met her eyes, the royal blue lacy bra cupping the blonde's pert breasts complemented her eyes and juxtaposed her skin perfectly.

Taking a moment to enjoy the view, Callie wasted little more time before trailing a line of kisses along her girlfriend's chest, through the valley created between the Arizona's breasts and down to her navel, the muscles of Arizona's tight stomach tightening with every breath she took.

Guiding Arizona's back gently down onto the seat of the sofa, Callie quickly got to work on removing her pants, her fingers deftly working the clasp on her belt before tearing the fabric down Arizona's toned legs in record time, panties and all, making up for the time lost to those pesky buttons.

Not pausing for a second, Callie's mouth was instantly upon Arizona's slick cunt, her tongue rhythmically massaging the blonde's clit in small, circular motions, sucking gently at random intervals until she could smell was the intoxicating scent of Arizona's arousal.

Placing her hands beneath the Latina's neck, Arizona guided the surgeon's lips to her own, the taste of her own wetness mixed with the unique sweetness that was purely Calliope, Arizona hungrily licked up e

Inserting her index and middle finger slowly, palm facing the sofa, Callie quickly turned her fingers inside Arizona, a moan escaping the blonde's lips as Callie quickly flicked her thumb across Arizona's engorged clit, the sounds of Arizona's growing orgasm urging Callie's fingers on, her own wetness having soaked through her own panties long before.

"Calliope…" Arizona whispered a moan; her hands trying to find some purchase, needing to hold onto something as she started to feel that tell-tale warmth in the pit of her stomach begin to rise.

Taking this as permission to speed up proceedings, Callie increased the rate of her fingers, her free hand kneading a still bra-clad breast, the hardened stubs peaking proudly through the fabric.

"Callie…" Arizona panted, her toes curling into the sofa as the orgasm overtook her, black dots appearing in her vision as her back arched involuntarily into her lover, the feeling of Callie's fingers still moving slowly inside her keeping her high from dissipating, her body squirming spasmodically as wave after wave hit her.

Callie could only watch as Arizona came down from her orgasm, her fingers gently working inside her to bring her down gently, her lips gently caressing the blonde's chest as Arizona's breathing returned to something that mildly resembled a normal pattern.

"Oh My God..." Arizona breathed heavily, the heaving of her chest distracting Callie's gaze from her girlfriend's face. "Oh. My. God."

* * *

"Why are you in your dress uniform, babe? It's been turning me on all day." Callie asked, her voice still slightly laboured from the pair's earlier excursions, her chest rising unevenly as she lay on Arizona's plush new mattress, the couple having finally made it to the bedroom after round three.

Arizona laughed lightly. Holding the sheets up from her newly christened bed, Arizona took the view of her naked body, a sheen of sweat still covering her chest and stomach, the muscles working overtime to gulp in the oxygen.

"Why _were_ you in your dress uniform?" Callie giggled, running a line of kisses down the blonde's upper arm and neck, her hand coming to rest possessively on the marine's taut stomach.

"Oh. No reason. I just had to go down to the local office and get some things sorted with my discharge papers." Arizona replied quickly, her hand coming to join with that of Calliope's on top of her stomach, her head turning to meet the brunette who was now lying on her side, facing the blonde. "I'll probably have to go back down, but… It was good to have my dad with me. Even if he was in big scary Colonel mode."

Callie knew that this was still hard for Arizona, that actually having to come to terms with the reality of her discharge was something that the blonde was still working her way through.

"I love you." Callie whispered, bringing her body as close as possible to Arizona's without jostling her leg too much. The blonde instantly pulled Callie closer to her, relaxing completely in the Latina's warm arms.

"I love you too." Arizona replied easily, tracing her hand gently along Callie's jaw line before drawing the brunette in for a long, slow and heartfelt kiss.

"Now…" Arizona continued, wanting to change the subject to something slightly less depressing. "Tell me about work. How's stuff been? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"I know…" Callie sighed. It was an occupational hazard that she had to work hours that most people would have a hernia over, but she loved her job, so she endured the minor detractions in favour of the larger attractions.

"Well…" Callie drawled. She couldn't believe that she'd forgotten to tell Arizona the news earlier, it had, after all, been something they'd been working on, together, for the last god knows how many months. Not to mention it was the last chance that Arizona had at regaining complete mobility in her legs. "Good news is that the FDA has finally come through with their approval of the cartilage. Arizona, you're going to be the first patient."

* * *

**A/N 2: As promised, here are the meanings of all the chapter titles so far and the title of the story itself **

**Title**_**: Si vis pacem, para bellum**_**: If you wish for peace, prepare for war.**

**Prologue: **_**Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori**_**: It is right and fitting to die for one's country.**

**Chapter 1: **_**Semper Fidelis**_**: Always faithful**

**Chapter 2: **_**Veni, Vidi, Vici**_**: I came, I saw, I conquered**

**Chapter 3: **_**Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim:**_** Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.**

**Chapter 4: **_**Bella, detesta matribus: **_**War, the horror of mothers**

**Chapter 5: **_**De fumo in flammam:**_** Out of the smoke, into the fire/out of the frying pan, into the fire**

**Chapter 6: **_**I**__**n vino veritas:**_** In wine there is truth**

**Chapter 7: **_**Vincit qui se vincit: **_**S/he conquers who conquers her/himself**

**Chapter 8: **_**Fortes fortuna iuvat**_**: Fortune favours the brave**

**Chapter 9: **_**Omnia Causa Fiunt**_**: Everything happens for a reason**

**Chapter 10: **_**dum vita est spes est: **_**Where there is life, there is hope**

**Chapter 11: **_**Apudne te vel me?:**_** Your place or mine?**

**Chapter 12: **_**Te Amo**_**: I love you**

**Chapter 13: **_**Ubi cor ibi domus:**_** Home is where the heart is**

**Thanks for reading guys, and Happy Holidays! **


	15. Dimidium facti qui coepit habet

**SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM**

**A/N: Here's chapter 14, hope you enjoy it! Hope you all are having a good week so far… Also, happy Grey's day!**

**Not sure if I'm totally happy with this one, but, being swamped and an ever unhelpful bout of mild writer's block means that I decided to post it anyways! Yay?!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Grey's Anatomy, just this little piece of make believe from make believe.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: ****Dimidium facti qui coepit habet**

Things had been going better than Callie, or Arizona for that matter, could ever have hoped. Initially, Callie had been worried about the hours Arizona was going to face alone in her apartment without anyone around to pester, whilst Callie herself was at work. But, now, looking at things… Callie wondered how she'd ever doubted that the perky blonde wouldn't find it easy to make new friends amongst her neighbours – especially the kids of the residents living on their floor.

"Eat it, Wallace!" A familiar voice squeals from behind a closed door, followed by a distinct gagging noise and a bout of hearty laughter. "Eeeww! You actually did it! Dude!"

Already shaking her head at what she was about to be let in on, Callie smiled as she put her key in the lock. The key that Arizona had given her pretty much the moment she'd moved in next door. Callie had doubted, again, whether that was such a good idea, being as they really didn't know how their relationship was going to work now that Arizona was, more or less, no longer a patient of hers, but Arizona had had no such fears. The marine had simply said that to her, there was never a question about giving Callie the key to her apartment. In this moment, at this point in time, there was no way that Arizona absolutely positive was not going to give Callie that small piece of metal.

The Latina really needed to stop doubting the blonde. She was tough and resilient, and she sure as the sun knew her own mind. Everything that had occurred since Callie had met her had been testament to that – not to mention that that was probably the reason the marine was bought to her in the first place.

"It tastes like feeeeeeeet!" Another squeal permeated the atmosphere as Callie finally pushed the door open, pausing as she took in the scene before her. Stepping into the chaos ahead, Callie mentally reminded herself to ask Arizona whether this was what it looked like when a bomb went off, because she was having a hard time describing Arizona's, usually immaculate, apartment as anything else.

"Pray tell, Wallace, why do you know what feet taste like?" A giggled response came, followed by a couple of chesty coughs, archetypal of a person who had been laughing way too hard for way too long.

"Uhhh…" Wallace stuttered, obviously not being able to come up with a suitable reply.

Putting the small boy out of his misery, Callie decided to make her presence known, the two 'children' too engrossed in their own escapades to have noticed the opening of the door.

"What are you two doing?" Callie asked, the amusement in her voice bouncing playfully off the walls of the apartment

"Nothing." The two voices chimed together, the looks on their faces telling Callie that they definitely had not been doing 'nothing', but that also, she probably didn't want to know what they were doing either.

"Okay then." The Latina laughed gently, throwing her bag haphazardly onto the coffee table before either Wallace or Arizona could stop her. "What?"

Taking in the cringing looks of the two people in front of her, Callie rolled her eyes and took in a deep breath. There was a child in the room and so she was determined not to swear, no matter how bad whatever it was that had just happened was.

"What just happened?"

"Honey." Arizona began, putting on her best diplomat voice as she gradually hobbled her way closer to her girlfriend. "Baby…"

"Arizona…" Callie warned, a sinking feeling beginning to form in her stomach, her arms crossing subconsciously across her chest.

"Okay. First of all, I love you." Arizona smiled lightly, placing a gentle kiss on her girlfriend's tanned cheek. "Second… You just threw your bag into a pretty hefty pile of ectoplasm."

"Ectoplasm?!" Callie cried, shaking her head to try and comprehend what her girlfriend had just said. Looking over at the coffee table Callie saw that her bag was, indeed, covered with what appeared to be a slimy, luminous green goo. "You mean the stuff that supposedly comes out of ghosts?!"

"It glows in the dark…" Arizona muttered, immediately shutting her mouth when she saw the fire burning in Callie's chocolate orbs.

"Wait…" Callie paused, shooting a death glare at her girlfriend whilst waving her hand at the… ectoplasm. "You didn't make him eat _that,_ did you?!"

"Calliope," Arizona whined, the pout on her lips the epitome of cuteness. "It's not like I forced him to do it."

"She dared me!" Wallace shouted, entering the foray himself before receiving a similar death glare, this time from Arizona.

"Doesn't mean you have to do it!" Arizona retorted, sticking her tongue out at the boy who returned the gesture with gusto.

"Arizona, you know as well as I do that once you are dared to do something, you have to do it." Callie couldn't help but smile at the blonde's antics. "Else you are a chicken."

Of all the people she had made friends with in their building, this small 10 year old boy from down the hall, Wallace, had become a best friend of Arizona's. The two of them could often be found doing the most random and disgusting things they could think of within the confines of the building.

"Is that so, Dr Torres?" The glint forming in Arizona's eye causing Callie to lick at dry lips, her mind momentarily going blank.

"Mmmhhmm…" Callie hummed as Arizona lightly ran her fingers up and down the Latina's exposed arms, leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake.

"I'll remember that." Arizona whispered, the warmth of her breath dancing around Callie's ear, sending shivers down the Latina's spine.

Pulling away from her girlfriend, Arizona plopped herself down on the sofa, facing Wallace who'd, in turn, plopped himself on the arm of the very same piece of furniture.

"Good show, buddy." Arizona rewarded the boy's heroism with a stinger of a high five that left both parties rubbing their sore hand afterwards.

"Thanks, Arizona." Wallace replied, the grin on his face not dissimilar to the one Arizona often dons when she's feeling just a bit mischievous. "When do you have to go back to the hospital?"

Looking up at her girlfriend, Arizona asked a silent question. It had been a month since Callie had announced that the authorisation for the cartilage programme had come through, but there had been a whole tonne of additional paper work – as per usual - that meant that proceedings couldn't get off the mark as quickly as either of the women would have liked. Nodding her head in return, Callie smiled, matching the one that appeared on her girlfriends face from such a small gesture – a small gesture that had held such huge potential.

"Soon, buddy. Soon." Arizona replied, a hint of sadness evident in her tone as she asked the lively little boy, "You?"

It was one of the things that had brought the two together as friends, the boy and the marine, their time in the hospital. It gave them a sort of solidarity, a fighting spirit and understanding of what the other had gone through in a strange sort of way, despite their ailments being completely different. Arizona had effectively been blown up. Wallace had short gut syndrome. Nothing about those two problems were even remotely similar, yet here they were, thick as thieves, eating the same ectoplasm that was now covering the Latina's nice new bag.

"Not really sure." Wallace replied, pushing the glasses that had fallen down his nose back up. "But I have a check-up next week, so maybe I'll see you in there!"

"Sweeet!" Arizona fist pumped, the excitement returning to her voice. "You better come see me."

* * *

"Thursday?" Arizona questioned quietly, her voice being muffled in a blanket of long, silky black hair, the sweet smell of pomegranate caressing the blonde's senses.

"Thursday." Callie affirmed, running her tanned fingers along the blonde's naked arm gently.

"That's only two days away…"

Arizona blew out a big breath. She hadn't really expected things to be so sudden. After months of waiting for the FDA to come through with authorisation, then a month of additional paper work headaches and walking backwards, it seemed they'd finally reached their destination. Callie was going to give Arizona her leg back. Well… She was going to try like hell at least.

"Wow." Arizona breathed; taking Callie's wandering hand in her own as she stared up at the ceiling above her, squeezing her girlfriend's hand gently.

"The surgery itself won't be then." Callie stated softly, turning her body onto the side so that she could face her girlfriend more fully. "We'll have to do bloods and work ups and all kinds of fun stuff first. Plus, we have to make sure the cartilage we've cultured isn't going to be rejected by your body."

Keeping her eyes pinned on the ceiling Arizona couldn't help but feel the butterflies start to flutter in her belly. Not even Callie's warm hand in hers could keep the unfamiliar nerves at bay.

"Yeah…" The blonde breathed, her stomach starting to feel as though it was doing flips. "Is it weird that I'm more scared for this than any of the surgeries we've been through yet?"

Callie chuckled lightly, taking note of the blonde's use of we before placing a chaste but loving kiss on her girlfriends pink lips.

"No, babe." Callie smiled reassuringly. "It's different this time. This is something that, in some ways, is optional. Before, it was have the surgery, or lose all function in your leg."

Arizona simply nodded at the Latina's words, taking in what her girlfriend was saying, wrapping her head around the logic of it all.

"But now…" Callie continued, never taking her eyes away from her girlfriend's cerulean ones, still inspecting the ceiling. "Now it's have the surgery and regain 95% function in your leg and risk losing 20% of the function you have at the moment if things go wrong, or don't have the surgery, and stick with the 50% you've already got."

"I need to see this out to the end." Arizona affirmed, knowing that she could never live with the 'what if's' or the regrets of not going through with this. 50% wasn't enough for her, and the difference between 50 and 30, in Arizona's eyes was worth the risk when she could gain so much more. Not to mention all the hard work and sleepless nights that Callie had put into this. No. This was something that Arizona needed to do.

Also… I know that nothing is going to go wrong, Calliope." Arizona responded, finally turning her eyes to the brunettes, letting the woman see that she was telling the complete truth, that beyond a doubt, Arizona believed that nothing was going to go wrong with this surgery.

"You can't know that… No-one can know that…" Callie replied, this time her turn to inspect the ceiling above the couple.

"But I do." Arizona answered, gently turning the Latina's head to face her once more, her thumb tracing the outline of enticing lips. "So it's stupid to be scared. I love you."

"I love you too." Callie replied, a small tear forming in the corner of her eye at the sincerity behind Arizona's words, at the confidence that her girlfriend had in her abilities, at the way Arizona always looked at her as though she was the most miraculous thing in the world.

Turning her own body to mirror her girlfriend's stance, Arizona cupped the Latina's head in her hands. Leaning in to place a gentle kiss on each tanned cheek, Arizona carefully kissed away the tears that had fallen from beautiful mocha eyes.

The 5 inches between them feeling much too far, Arizona scooted her body further towards the Latina, revelling in the comfort and warmth that the marine had only ever found in Calliope, despite the multitude of blankets covering the pair on the bed. The feel of Callie's strong arms pulling Arizona tighter into the Latina's body, coupled with the sensation of a lingering kiss being placed on her temple, did all sorts of wonderful things to Arizona's body. Every nerve ending that came into contact with warm naked flesh felt as though a bolt of lightning had just shot its way through the very core of her being.

"Mmm…" Callie moaned contentedly, letting her hands wander up and down vast expanses of toned, almost naked flesh. "Too many clothes..."

"You remember what you said earlier?" Arizona grinned in response, feeling the wetness in her core beginning to pool into her boy shorts. "About dares?"

The feel of Callie's warm lips attaching themselves to her collarbone in response caused the blonde's head to tilt back in pleasure, a small gasp falling from her lips at the juxtaposition created by Callie's warm lips against the cool nights air. Pulling her head back slightly whilst locking eyes with her girlfriend, Callie simply nodded, raising her eyebrow slightly in confusion.

"I have a dare for you." The marine almost hummed, her fingers playing dangerously at the lacy hem of a certain Latina's panties, dipping every now and then into forbidden territory. "Fuck me."

"Jesus..." The surgeon moaned in response, the feel of Arizona's cool fingers playing so close to her heated core only intensifying her need, Callie clamping her legs together in order to gain some semblance of relief.

Grabbing her girlfriend's hand before she totally lost her mind, Callie pins the limb above long blonde hair, pushing her girlfriend onto her back to allow tanned legs to straddle the marine, Arizona's hips bucking up automatically into the brunette's lace clad bundle.

Moaning slightly at the contact, Callie immediately decided that the body beneath her was wearing way too many clothes before forcibly ripping navy blue boy shorts from the body beneath her to reveal the golden treasure hidden beneath. Working on autopilot, Arizona once again bucked her soaked core into Callie's body, a wave of pleasure washing over her at the momentary friction.

Taking her cue from her girlfriend's movements and being completely unable to resist the feeling of the blonde's walls surrounding her, Callie quickly inserted two fingers into a warm, moist centre, keeping her rhythm slow but steady - just at that tempo that, the Latina knows, will keep her girlfriend on the delightfully painful precipice. Also, upping the ante by latching full, wet lips onto an awaiting, bouncing breast, Callie nipped lightly at the erect flesh, eliciting yet another moan from Arizona.

"Do it baby." Callie commanded, loosening her lips from the taut pink nipple as the sound of Arizona's breathing started to become sporadic beneath her, the blonde woman's legs wrapping around the Latina's ass in reply, silently encouraging Callie to increase the speed and depth of her ministrations. "I want to see what I do to you, Arizona."

Using her thumb to flick an engorged bundle of nerves, Callie could feel Arizona's walls begin to tighten around her, the Latina slowing her fingers inside the blonde, trying to squeeze out every morsel of pleasure possible in her lover, for as long as possible.

"Come for me Arizona."

Upon hearing her girlfriend's words, Arizona couldn't help but come undone, a kaleidoscope of colour blurring their way across her eyelids as her eyes closed in pleasure, the world falling eerily silent to the woman as the marine rode out her high.

"Callie…" Arizona gasped, her vision finally returning to find a smirking Latina staring down at her, the feel of a soft hand moving sweat sodden hair off her brow making the marine smile. "I love you."

Bringing her lips to Arizona's, a slightly salty taste entering her mouth as saliva mingles with sweat and when she looks down into sapphire eyes, Callie can't help but feel that right here and right now, is everything that she could ever have wanted, and more.

"I love you too."

* * *

"How you doing there, soldier?" A familiar voice boomed from the doorway, startling the marine who had, until now, been quite happily reading the latest edition of Sports Illustrated – which just so happened to be the swimsuit edition.

"Hey Mark." Arizona replied, although much less enthusiastically than her male counterpart. "I'm good, thanks. Do I dare ask how the great Mark Sloan is?"

"I, am excellente." The greying man replied happily, taking up his usual seat at the foot of Arizona's bed in exactly the same way as, what seemed to Arizona, to be years ago. Stealing the magazine that Arizona had discarded atop her blankets and giving it a quick once over before tossing back at the marine, the man nodded his head in approval. "Nice choice of literature, Robbins."

"Actually, it was Callie that picked it out, so…" Arizona smirked, knowing exactly the reaction she was going to get out of Mark. It was, after all, probably the same reaction she would have gotten out of most men. Or women for that matter.

"Torres got you _this_?" Mark asked incredulously, picking up the magazine once again, his eyes being met with nothing but scantily clad, toned and bronze women. "Damn… She must really love you to let you look at all these fine women with impunity. Lucky."

"Mark, please. Calliope and I have a very mature relationship that is founded upon mutual trust, respect and love." Arizona replied as seriously as she could, the will power requited to keep the shit eating grin off her face second to none. "Also… Jealous sex is amazing."

Barking his trademark laugh, Mark simply nodded in agreement, a distant look appearing in his eye for just a second – as though he was remembering something particularly… enjoyable – before it was gone again.

"So… Big day, round…" Mark drawled, trying to remember just how many surgeries the blonde had undergone. "What round is this?"

This time it was Arizona's time to laugh, a dry chuckle escaping her lips as she propped herself up better against her pillow.

"Good question." The marine replied, having to work the numbers through in her head herself. "I guess… Including the surgery I had at the field hospital… That makes it like 4 or 5 or something? Is it bad that I don't really remember?"

Shrugging in response, Mark shook his head lightly at Arizona's question.

"You've been through more in this last year than most people see in a lifetime, Arizona." Mark studied the blonde a second, the look in his eyes something Arizona had never seen before, something like pride, like respect for her… something…

"Did you just call me Arizona?" The marine teased, giving her friend a playful punch in the soldier, not dissimilar to the way she used to hit her brother when he was being annoying or embarrassing or any of those other things brothers are. "Thank you, Mark."

Nodding, a second of silence letting the heaviness that had descended upon the atmosphere, that neither of the pair were completely comfortable with, dissipate, Mark decided to change the topic onto something slightly more light-hearted.

"So… How does it feel to finally be able to see the finish line?" The surgeon inquired, his tone light and airy and… comfortable.

"It feels…" Arizona smiled lightly to herself, remembering the way a similar conversation that she'd had the night before had ended. "Miraculously terrifying. Amazingly frightening. Awesomely petrifying. Take your pick."

"You are like a human Thesaurus, Arizona Robbins." The tell-tale beep-beep of a pager interrupting Mark's words, "and it is on that note that I must leave you."

Stopping a second at the door way, pager still in hand, Mark turned to the marine, that characteristic smirk once again playing on his lips.

"I'll swing by before your surgery tomorrow, Rocky. Bring you some good juju."

"I look forward to it." The blonde shouted in reply, the greying surgeon already retreating speedily down the corridor. "Wait, Rocky..? Seriously?! And what is juju?!"

Mark Sloan. Arizona had missed that man more than she'd liked to have admitted.

* * *

**A/N 2: Thanks for reading guys! Today's chapter title is a quote from Horace and translates to "s/he who has begun has the work half done."**

**If any of you are feeling particularly generous or just want to have a chat, then hit me up with a review or PM! I'm always down for a little tête-à-tête!**


	16. Semper Fidelis Redux

**SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM**

**A/N: It is becoming increasingly difficult to find relevant chapter titles for this story (as you can probably tell). Why do I always dig myself into holes that I cannot get myself out of?! **

**Well… Here goes nothing! Enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Semper Fidelis Redux**

"So…" Callie drawled, arms wrapped tightly around the blonde next to her, the small hospital bed making it impossible for the two women to get any closer – not that either of them would have wanted it any other way anyway. "You really don't remember?"

"I promise you, Calliope, if I could remember _that_ then I definitely would." The blonde huffs indignantly, still sore that she seemingly could not remember what sounded to be one of the most… ostentatious post-surgery wake-ups she'd ever had.

"You are so cute." Callie giggled, kissing Arizona's cheek lightly before nuzzling herself into the blonde's shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too." Arizona smiled, never getting tired of hearing her girlfriend say those three words, and always more than happy to reciprocate the sentiment. "Tell me the story again."

"Arizonaaa!" Callie rolled her eyes. "I've told you what happened like a million times already. You probably know it better than I do by this stage."

"I can feel you rolling your eyes at me, Calliope Iph…"

"Alright, you can stop now!" Callie shook her head at her girlfriend's antics. She knew that her one weakness was to bring out that ridiculous middle name of hers Damn her sadists of parents... "But seriously, nothing is going to change."

"I might remember if you tell me one more time." Arizona pleaded, the two already having this conversation at least five times, with Callie always conceding. Partly because the story was just that bizarre, and partly because she would dare anybody to say no to Arizona's puppy dog face. It was just too cute. "Just once more… Please!"

"Well…" Callie began, snuggling into Arizona to get comfortable whilst she retold a story which she now could recite in her sleep. "It was probably about four hours after we'd gotten you out of surgery. Things had gone well, and I couldn't wait to tell you the good news…

"_Don't be ridiculous, Calliope." Arizona smiled, tapping her girlfriend's nose gently with the point of her index finger._

"_Okay…" Callie drawled, trying to suppress a laugh._

"_Of course aliens have come to Earth." The blonde continued, completely serious._

"_What..?" Callie couldn't help herself as a small laugh escaped her lips, the Latina managing to cover it up as a cough._

"_Aliens obviously have already come to Earth, Calliope. I'm telling you right now. I was in the military, I know these things. They keep them secret, but the military… they don't know." The seriousness in Arizona's face only adding to Callie's, currently suppressed, outburst of laughter._

"_Oh really? What don't they know." Callie continued, suddenly very interested as to where this conversation was headed._

"_That they can change themselves to look like us." Arizona answered matter-of-factly, as though any sane person would already have known that information._

"_That's… Kinda creepy." Callie shivered slightly, not really comfortable with the idea of aliens looking like humans with intents of eating her. Sounded much too much like V for her liking, and that show had scared the crap out of her when she watched it for the first time – even though she'd been told explicitly that she wasn't allowed to watch it by her father. _

"_I know, right?" Arizona agreed, suddenly grabbing hold of the Latina's lapels, bringing her girlfriend's face closer to hers, their noses practically touching. "That's why you have to be on your guard, 24/7, Calliope. 24/7."_

_Letting go of Callie, Arizona slumped back into her bed, arms outstretched to the ceiling._

"_Otherwise the aliens will get me?"_

"_Yes." Arizona confirmed without a shadow of a doubt, as though there was no earthly alternative. "And I can't live without you so don't you go getting got by aliens, you here?" The blonde added, her tone becoming nostalgic and deep before continuing. "I'm glad that you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam."_

"_Babe…" Callie murmured, a smirk coming to her face once she finally processed the second part of her girlfriend's ramblings "Wait… Was that Lord of the Rings?" Callie laughed incredulously. She loved that her marine was a not-so-secret nerd, because she was too._

"_Shh…" Arizona shushed, waving her hands around in the air frantically before pointing furtively behind Callie's head using her blanket to hide her movements._

"_What?!" Callie questioned lightly, her heart beginning to pump slightly faster at the focused look that had taken over Arizona's eyes. She remembered that look… except this time, she was pretty sure that there wasn't a gunman loose around the hospital._

"_There." Arizona continued to point behind the Latina. "Him. That… person."_

"_Who? What are you talking about?" Callie whispered leaning in closer to her girlfriend whilst turning her head slightly to spy on just who, or what, exactly Arizona was pointing at. For all Callie knew, Arizona could be pointing at a pot plant rather than a human being, such was her doped up state._

"_Shh…" Arizona chided, giving Callie a roll of the eyes. "The one behind you, just outside the door."_

"_What? Dr. Avery?" The surgeon asked. The only person she could see outside was the wannabe plastic surgeon, the hallway seemingly, and oddly, devoid of any other people – doctors, nurses and visitors alike._

"_Avery… He's one of those types." Arizona mumbled, a look of realisation hitting her as she fell fully back into her bed, her head nodding up and down._

"_Types of what, Arizona? You really aren't making any sense."_

"_Alien."_

"_Say what?" Callie shook her head again. Was her girlfriend really saying that Jackson Avery was an alien? Was this conversation actually happening? Callie had to pinch herself to make sure this wasn't some sort of crazy sleep deprived hallucination._

_Ouch._

_Definitely not a dream._

"_He's an alien." Arizona reiterated, propping herself back up on her arms, locking eyes with her girlfriend._

"_How could you ever know that?" Callie asked her girlfriend, partly because she knew this whole conversation was ridiculous, and partly because she was actually interested in the basis the marine's drugged up mind had created to pin-point Avery, of all people, as an alien._

"_I told you, Calliope I was in the military. He's an alien. One of those bird type ones that have a beak and stuff, and that have hollow bones."_

"_Hollow bones…" Callie repeated. So sue her, she was an orthopaedic surgeon, of course she focused on the bones. "Arizona, what proof could you possibly have that he is an alien? And why am I having this conversation in the first place?"_

"_DR. AVERY." Arizona shouted, the words leaving the blondes lips before Callie realised what was happening._

"_Here we go." Callie muttered, rolling her eyes whilst hoping that Jackson had really bad hearing and hadn't heard Arizona's shrill shriek. Heck, maybe he didn't even have real ears because, of course, he's a frickin' alien!_

"_DR. AVERY." Arizona repeated, obviously not satisfied with the response from the first attempt._

"_Arizona, I'm sure that Dr. Avery is extremely busy." Callie warned, trying to get the blonde to shut-up without telling her in so many words. She really didn't want Arizona to embarrass herself in front of people who didn't know her, because then they would always think of her as that fool who thought that everyone was an alien rather than the person that saved countless lives in this very same hospital. Lowering her tone, Callie added, "and he is DEFINITELY not an alien!"_

"_That's what they all say, Calliope. That's what they all say until they eat you with their pointy teeth and their two stomachs and their tiny beady eyes." Arizona whispered in reply, visualising for Callie the size of their tiny beady eyes as she donned her best shit eating grin, Avery approaching her bedside from behind her girlfriend._

"_Okay fine. I still don't understand why Jackson." Callie replied with a shrug, haven given up hope of deterring her marine. Once she had her mind set on something, there was no stopping her. Not unless you offered sex, of course, but Callie really didn't think that was quite… appropriate at the moment, what with Jackson having just entered the room, and that Arizona being extremely doped right now._

"_His face is too symmetrical. Nobody is that perfect." Arizona answered instantly, her voice a harsh whisper. It really didn't take that much thought, to be honest._

"_Huh." Callie couldn't fault it, Arizona had her there._

"_Hello there, Miss Robbins. I'm Dr Avery." Jackson introduced himself with the smile that made almost every woman he saw instantly melt under its gaze. "I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you yet, although Dr Torres can't say enough kind things about you."_

"_She's my girlfriend." _

"_I know." Jackson continued to smile, a look of amusement on his face as he crossed his arms around the chart he was holding, still standing at the foot of Arizona's bed. "You are both extremely lucky to have each other."_

"_My girlfriend." Arizona repeated possessively, almost marking her territory._

"_Yes… You said." Avery smiled, laughter barely hidden in his voice._

"_So… Jackson… Where you from?" Arizona asked, trying to act nonchalant, picking at her nails. All Callie could do was face palm. Yep. This was going exactly as she had envisioned – painfully._

"_Me?" Avery asked, as though there was anyone else in the room to which Arizona was posing the question. "Massachusetts. Practically grew up in Mass Gen."_

_Arizona nodded slowly, the look on her face that of a 1930s detective sat in a smoky office building wearing a pinstripe suit (with white tie) and a black fedora. Any minute now a busty broad in with a thick Yonkers accent was going to sweep her way into the room, Callie could feel it. _

"_I guess you started learning human anatomy pretty young then, eh?" Arizona interrogated, leaning her head into her hands whilst smiling politely at Jackson._

"_Yeah…" The young man hesitated, giving Callie the slightest glance of confusion. It wasn't necessarily that strange of a question, but the way Arizona had asked it certainly was. "I guess so..."_

_Knocking the comic book that Arizona had been reading for all of ten minutes before Callie had entered the room off the side of the bed, accidently on purpose, the blonde sighed self-deprecatingly, flinging her hands into the air._

"_Whoops." The marine feigned, rolling her eyes at her mock stupidity, before waving in the general direction of the offending article. "I'm so clumsy sometimes."_

_Before Callie could call bullshit on that one – Arizona had the fastest reflexes of pretty much anyone she knew, it would have been easy for her to save her poor magazine from its great fall if she had wanted too, even if she was hopped up on first class meds – Jackson had already replied._

"_Let me get that for you." _

_Being ever the gentleman, Avery knelt down to retrieve the fallen object, a look of abject horror flashing through his eyes as he felt a surprisingly strong arm wrap itself tightly around his throat._

"_Why are you here! Tell me why you are here!" Arizona shouted into the residents ear, her face so close to his they were almost touching._

"_Whaa..?" The caramel skinned resident stuttered, trying, to no avail, to free himself from the arms of this crazy ex-marine._

"_WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?!" Arizona interrogated, increasing the pressure on the neck of the shocked man just a little, encouraging him to answer her question._

"_What..? I..." The look of pure fear the man gave to Callie almost made her heart cry. "Callie…"_

_Callie just shook her head, apologising silently to her colleague whilst turning her attention to her girlfriend, unsure of how to get her girlfriend to not kill one of her colleagues because she thought he was an alien._

"_Arizona…" Callie pleads, not sure what the blonde has planned for her… alien captive._

"_I… I'm a doctor…" Jackson interrupts before Callie can continue, his face more resembling a blueberry after each passing second._

_Releasing the 'perfect specimen' from her choke hold, Arizona returned to her previous position, lounging comfortably in her hospital bed, not before poking Jackson in the face one last time, nodding in satisfaction as she confirmed her findings._

"_You actually have rather chubby cheeks." The blonde stated, now seemingly disinterested in the young surgeon._

"_What.?!" Jackson cried – no-one said he had chubby cheeks!_

"_I'm sorry Jackson. I'm so sorry…" Callie apologised, feeling as though she wanted to crawl into a hole and die – and bring Arizona with her._

"_It's okay… I'm just gonna…" Jackson pointed to the doorway, roughly rubbing away the memory of his bizarre ordeal on his neck._

"_Arizona, what the hell!" Callie scolded in hushed tones once Jackson had speedily retreated out of earshot._

"_He wasn't an alien." The blonde stated in the same manner as before making Callie physically slap herself on the forehead._

"_No shit! What made you suddenly change your mind?!" The Latina cried. Right now, she felt like strangling someone herself, and it wasn't Jackson Avery._

"_He had a freckle. On the back of his neck, he had a freckle and therefore he is human. Aliens don't get freckles..."_

"God dammit! I still can't remember, Calliope!" Arizona groaned, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Well… I would have thought that you wouldn't want to remember something like that to be honest, sweetie." Callie laughed, if she had done something like that…

"Na-huh." Arizona countered the perfect impersonation of a ten year old. She'd obviously been spending too much time with Wallace. "It sounds hilarious!"

Callie could only smile. Of course Arizona would want to remember what most other people would pay to forget, she was Arizona Robbins, after all, in all her perky, quirky uniqueness.

"That's one word for it." Callie agreed, getting a glowering look from the blonde that the Latina knew was all in jest.

"Godammit." Arizona muttered, crossing her arms, as best she could whilst snuggling with Callie, across her chest. Puffing out a long breathe, Arizona posed her girlfriend with a question. "Y'know something..?"

"I know some things, yes…" Callie drawled, unsure as to the direction this conversation was going to take. "But not necessarily something."

"You're amazing." Arizona stated simply. No exemplification necessary. To her, Calliope Torres was exactly that.

"Well, I try my best…" Callie teased, earning her a soft punch to the delicate flesh of the most easily accessible arm.

"No Calliope. Seriously. You are amazing. Everything you've done for me, the friendship, the love, the leg… All of it. You are an angel and you are amazing. And I love you."

"I love you too." Callie replied earnestly, leaning in towards her girlfriend, planting a lingering kiss to soft lips that she couldn't get enough of, a kiss that she ached to take further but knew now really wasn't the time. Maybe later…

"I told you this surgery was going to be a walk in the park." Arizona smirked, wiggling her toes at the foot of the bed as though that would be evidence enough of Callie's awesomeness.

"I know." Callie agreed quietly. Arizona had been right and thank God that she had. The surgeon didn't want to think about where they'd be right now if the surgery had failed. Of course, Callie was pretty sure that Arizona wasn't the type of person to, metaphorically speaking of course, walk away from her just because of that, but that didn't mean that the thoughts didn't cross her mind from time to time.

"It's because you are amazing." Arizona affirmed, a quick nod of her head followed by a deep kiss to the Latina's temple.

"Alright there lover girl, I think that's enough 'amazings' for one night." Callie laughed, a pink tint rising on her cheeks at Arizona's compliments.

"Nope. There can never be too much amazing with you." Arizona reaffirmed, a grin appearing on her lips as she beckoned her girlfriend closer to her, the blonde lowering her voice. "No-one has ever made me scream the way you do, Calliope."

"Oh-kay!" Callie leaned back, looking around her to make sure none of her colleagues, or more accurately, none of her superiors were within earshot before whispering, "you do remember that I am at work right now, right?"

"Mmhmm." Arizona hummed musically, her hand beginning to slip underneath her blanket and into an extremely dangerous zone. "It's nothing you should be ashamed of."

"Don't start what you can't finish." Callie moaned, her eyes fluttering closed as she felt soft tickles of her girlfriend's hand playing gently over the thin fabric of her scrub pants.

"Who is saying that I can't finish, Calliope? I could finish you 5 times in a row, right here, right now." Arizona challenged, her blue eyes darkening into a lust filled haze.

"Is that so…" Callie replied breathlessly, the beginnings of those sweet feelings filling her stomach as Arizona continued her ministrations. "Your morphine drip might… have something else to say about that, babe." Callie gasped out her brain beginning to lose its function to form coherent sentences.

"Morphine drip, smorphine drip." Arizona waved the drip away, her eyes never leaving Callie's aroused features, wanting to see the way her fingers were getting the Latina worked up with so little effort. "They can't say anything, anyways. They don't have lips. Or do they…"

"And here we go." Callie groaned, pulling Arizona's heavenly hand away from the danger zone. "Babe, as much as I would love to... Y'know…" Callie exemplified with a tell-tale whistle, "with you right now. I reckon you have about ten minutes before that there nectar in your drip bag sends you into dreamland, and what I would do to you…" Callie drawled. If Arizona wanted to play dirty, so could she. "Well… Let's just say, it's going to take much longer than ten minutes…"

"Callie..." Arizona reasoned breathily, her hand beginning to creep beneath the sheets once again. "I am a marine. I think I can last longer than ten minutes just because of a little bit of morphine."

"Well, if it was just a little bit, then sure, I'd be right there with you, but…" Callie consoled, having had enough experience with Arizona on morphine to know all too well Arizona's tolerance for morphine. "Arizona..?"

Looking down at her girlfriend, Callie smiled. The marine always looked so peaceful when she was sleeping, plus she made the cutest little snoring noises – although Arizona was adamant that that was all in Callie's head. Callie looked down at her watch and nodded her head.

"Two minutes…"

* * *

"Eurgh." Callie groaned, closing the lid on what was probably her tenth chart of the day.

"What's up Torres?" Mark asked, the man completing his own charts, the two friends having been sitting in a comfortable silence for a couple of hours now.

"This is taking forever." The Latina growled, waving her hands out at the pile of charts that she had yet to complete. "Whatever happened to the interns? Where are they? And why aren't they doing my paperwork?"

"Because they are inept." Mark stated with a shrug of the shoulders, clicking his pen as he read.

"None of them spreading their legs for you, Sloan?" Callie jibed, earning her a light punch to the side of her arm in the exact same spot Arizona had attacked earlier in the day.

"Ha ha. I am in a stable, healthy relationship, I'll have you know." Mark replied matter of factly, the façade of maturity failing when he poked his tongue out at his friend.

"Oh really…" Callie smiled, her voice dancing around the hallways. "So you asked Lexie out?"

"Yes. I did actually. And before you ask, she said yes." The smile on Mark's face all Callie needed to know that Mark was actually happy about this, that for once in his life Mark Sloan had chosen a relationship over quick and dirty sex.

"Well, Sloan… Good for you." Callie congratulated, a look of happy incredulousness plastered across her face. "Actually taking a woman out and wooing her. I've gotta call Addison and let her know you are all grown up!"

"I hate it when you're perky, Torres." Mark moaned, shooting the Latina a death glare. "I'm actually wondering what Blondie over there spikes your coffee with."

"Mark!" Callie cried, glancing quickly to Arizona's room across the hall to make sure she hadn't caught her girlfriend's attention. "Arizona does not spike my coffee." Callie almost whispered, a sly grin appearing on her face. If Mark talked sex with her and made her awkward, then she could definitely do it to him. "She just gives me the biggest, longest orgasms I've ever had, is all."

"Oh God…" Mark practically knocked himself out with the next chart he had procured, the metal binder still hiding the mountain of paperwork beneath as it bounced healthily off his forehead. "Really?"

"Yep." Callie replied happily, the smile on her face only growing. "Sorry to tell you this Mark but she's better than you."

"Pssh… Impossible." Mark retorted. "I am a master in the bedroom."

"Yeah. Well… We can't all be number one, can we?" Callie muttered, double checking what she had just written and making sure orgasm was definitely NOT what she'd written to be prescribed in the drug notes.

"I don't believe you." The greying surgeon stated, shaking his head.

"Well… The night before we came in for her surgery, I swear I was just about to fall asleep and then, oh my God, Mark, it was…" Callie laughed at the look on Mark's face. Yes, this was definitely fun payback for all the times she'd had to listen to Mark's crazy sex stories.

"Alright! I get the point." Mark held his hands up in defeat "God dammit." He sighed, trying to focus his eyes back on the chart in front of him before giving up and looking back as his friend. "That woman is a dark horse."

"I know. You wouldn't be able to tell from here, but that woman is…"

"What woman is who?" The Chief of surgery's booming voice made the pair of surgeons jump, Callie almost dropping her pen in the excitement.

"That woman…" Callie stuttered, trying to find anything else than what she was going to say about how her girlfriend was a tiger in the bedroom and was never satisfied to give her just one orgasm or how she could make her whole world come crashing down with one deft flick of her index finger just in the right spot... "That woman in room 310 is going to need a stronger dose of steroids."

"Yes." Mark replied slowly, locking eyes with Callie who nodded slightly in encouragement. "Yes, she had one of the worst cases of Poison Oak I've ever seen."

His face turning sour, the Chief glanced between the two surgeons, Callie's look of disgust all he needed to know about just how bad the poison oak was. Callie could have laughed if Mark hadn't of been so disgusting with his fake diagnosis. Of course the man always went to vaginas.

"Might be wise to push some antibiotics too." Callie added for extra zest, padding out the story. "Looked a bit infected to me."

"Oh. Well… Yes…" Webber replied, his face mimicking Callie's earlier look of disgust to the tee. "Best to get an intern on that one I think, don't you, Torres, Sloan."

"Of course, sir." The pair recited in unison, the manner of which would make any outsider believe that they'd rehearsed it beforehand.

Patting either of his surgeons on the shoulder before he left, Callie watched as the figure of the authoritative man got smaller and smaller until he turned the corner, the Latina breathing out a long sigh of relief at the close call.

"Why didn't you want Webber to know?" Mark whispered, looking around furtively to make sure their superior had, indeed, vacated the area.

"I dunno…" Callie drawled. It was complicated. "She's technically a patient still, Mark. I don't want to risk my career, but I don't want to hide my relationship either. Plus, that was probably going to a be a bit much for the chief, don't you think..?"

"Well, it seems like you were hiding just now." Mark observed, the scratching of his pen on coarse paper a constant in the background.

"You're right." Callie groaned, shoving a chart rather more forcibly than was strictly necessary back onto the table. "You are absolutely right, but you know the rules, Mark."

"Screw the rules. Just tell him, Callie." Mark sighed, clicking his pen and placing the completed chart back behind the nurses' station. "Arizona's treatment is nearly finished. The only people she's going to be seeing here soon are the physiotherapists, and I can do her post-op consultations if that is really going to be a problem."

"But what if I lose my job..?" Callie questioned quietly, more to herself than to anyone else, bringing a tired hand across equally tired eyes.

"Callie. You are not going to lose your job." Mark replied, grabbing the Latina forcibly by the arms. "You just created frickin' cartilage like God. So no, Callie. You are not going to lose your job just because you fell in love."

The two looked between themselves, not quite sure of what just happened. Somewhere, somehow, Mark had become the functional person, the advisor in life, and Callie had become the crumbling mess. When had they switched places? Whatever and whenever it had happened, both the surgeons knew one thing. It felt wrong.

"Aww… Mark! When did you become such an encyclopaedia of knowledge and wisdom?" Callie teased, grinning at Mark, attempting to shrug off the weirdness of the last couple of minutes.

"Well… Apparently, I am all grown up now, aren't I?"

* * *

"Hey babe!" Callie called happily, plopping herself onto Arizona's bed, leaning in for a quick kiss.

"Hey" Arizona responded in kind, pulling Callie back in for another kiss, the Latina's lips almost as potent a drug to her as the stuff currently occupying her drip bag. "Good day?"

Callie nodded in the affirmative, pulling a few envelopes out of her bag before handing them to the marine. She hadn't gotten to see her girlfriend since the day before – she'd been paged into an emergency surgery and by the time she'd gotten out it was already one in the morning, her marine tucked away in bed, fast asleep.

"Three textbook surgeries this morning and no signs of rejection in your leg - life is good."

Arizona couldn't do anything but chuckle at the Latina. It wasn't often that Callie was in such a perky mood – Arizona was usually the one to be described as such – but the blonde loved it when she got to see this side of her girlfriend. In such a demanding job that always meant you saw the people at, usually, the worst times in their lives and that sometimes ended in tragedy… It was good to know that Callie could still be joyful and frivolous despite all that.

"It is indeed..." Arizona drawled, the rest of her sentence dying on her lips, her fingers coming to rest on an all too familiar envelope.

Noticing her girlfriend's hesitation, Callie searched Arizona's face for a hint as to her sudden silence, finding only furrowed brows and a firmly clenched jaw.

"Babe…" Callie began gently, wanting Arizona to tell her what the problem was without her retreating into herself as she always attempted to do. "What is that?"

"I dunno…" Arizona replied slowly, her fingers ghosting over the all too familiar insignia of the United States Marine Corps. The same insignia and envelope that had held her discharge only months before… "It's from headquarters."

Letting a comfortable silence fall across the room, Arizona continued tracing the outline of the symbol that effectively represented her entire life. Everything she'd done, everything she was, was because of the Marine Corps. What did they want from her now? They'd said they'd put her on a retainer, that she was going to be used as a consultant and could potentially return to active duty pending cartilage outcomes and the results of all the usual rigorous fitness tests, but could it be that? This was one of those ordinary letter sized envelopes and it was thin. If Arizona had to guess she'd say there wasn't more than two or three leaves in there at best, and if it was info about her new position… Arizona had to believe that that sort of thing would be a whole ream of paper thick, what with contracts to sign and duplicates and all that other mumbo-jumbo…

"Are you going to open it?" Callie asked curiously, genuinely unsure of the answer. Of course, she herself wanted to know what was beneath that seemingly inconspicuous wrapping, but she knew that this wasn't that simple for Arizona. Callie guessed it was like college admissions letters. You spend years of your life working, waiting for that 'yes' that will open up the next stage of your life, until the letter comes and you can't open it. You can't open it because it's too much. What if, after all that time, all of that hard work, the blood, sweat and tears… what if, after all that, you get rejected?

Of course, Callie fully understood that that wasn't the end of the world, far from it. In fact, many people would say that there was a reason for it, that it was destiny telling you that you have another path to lead, besides there were always other places to study.

"Can't be worse than the last one." Arizona breathed, finally ripping open the envelope and pulling out the innards with fervour.

Watching as the blonde's eyes flicked speedily across the page, the suspense was almost too much for Callie. It was impossible to read her girlfriend's face – it having been set in a look of utter neutrality since she first set eyes upon the page, but she wasn't going to interrupt her either. She'd find out soon, but damn if she didn't want to know.

Gently placing the letter on her knees, Arizona looked up from the page, her eyes instantly finding Callie's chocolate brown ones. To be honest, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a strange letter, dredging up a maelstrom of different emotions that Arizona was entirely sure that she didn't understand.

Why her? That, again, was something she didn't understand either.

"They've promoted me…" Arizona whispered, gesturing to the paper, giving Callie permission to peruse it herself. "They fucking promoted me."

" Congratulations Captain Robbins…" Callie murmured, immediately understanding just where her girlfriend's mind was about to go. "No, Arizona…"

"They fucking promoted ME? After they fired ME?" Arizona snapped, tearing the letter out of Callie's hand before fiercely scrunching it up into a ball and throwing it out of the open door. "Tim…"

"Tim would have wanted you to have this…" Callie I tried to put a comforting arm around her marine, only to have it shoved away, a fire burning deep within the blonde's eyes. "I know they didn't do anything like this for him, but Tim would have wanted you to have this, Arizona."

"God." Arizona let out a long shaky breath, looking at the ceiling as tears began to pool in her eyes. "I must sound like a broken record, huh?"

"Maybe… But you're my broken record." The Latina smiled lightly.

"I just… I don't know, Calliope." Arizona huffed in frustration. Sometimes she just wished that the world operated in black and white and that things weren't always so… grey all the time. "I don't get it. Why..?"

"Why you..?" Callie asked whimsically, tilting her head to the side as though she was thinking about the answer, Arizona merely nodding her head slightly in response.

"Because you are amazing and spectacular and brave and everything I've ever wanted." Callie answered matter-of-factly, an earth shattering smile pulling her lips upwards. "And they've finally just realised that fact."

Rolling her eyes at the Latina, Arizona couldn't help it but smile as well. Why was Callie always so good at reading her moods, at always knowing what she needed..?

"Thank you." Arizona sniffed, wiping away any traces of the tears that had threatened to fall.

"Always." Callie replied, taking the hand that Arizona was using to wipe away imaginary tears and entwining the fingers with her own. "So… Are you going to go?"

"What do you mean?" Arizona replied, the confusion that had furrowed her brow earlier now returning.

"At the bottom of the letter, it invited you to some sort of ceremony…" Callie replied, kissing the palm of Arizona's hand that she currently had held hostage.

"Oh…"

* * *

**A/N 2: Strange how I get more writing done when I have studying to do. Then again, perhaps not. Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has left me a review so far - they are the honey to my badger. That sounded less wrong in my head...**


	17. Amare et Honorare

**A/N: Back from Hiatus! Still really busy with work and what not, especially now that dissertation is getting underway, but I'm going to try and update more often than I have been (that shouldn't be too hard should it? :/) **

**I also just wanted to thank all the people who have stuck with this story despite my tardiness and shiteness at updating. You are all awesome and angelic people, and I love you for it. And to anyone who has just started reading this story, then welcome! I hope you enjoy this story as much I enjoy writing it and reading your reviews.**

**The curse of the lack of Latin knowledge has come to bite me in the butt again. It is getting slightly stressful, but I won't back down! Never give up, never surrender. Guess the movie anyone? **

**Okay, back to the fun and games!**

**Disclaimer: The people in this story belong to Shonda Rhimes.**

* * *

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Amare et Honorare**

"Eurgh… What time is it?" Arizona mumbles into her pillow. It was one of those mornings. The sky was grey, the room was dark and Arizona had absolutely no idea what time it was outside. It could have been three am or six pm for all she knew. One thing the marine did know, however, was that there was something that she was supposed to get up for today… If only she could remember what…

"Just gone 7:30… Why?" Callie replies just as sleepily, her eyes barely managing to open far enough to read the red glowing digits on the alarm display.

Oh, right. The commissioning ceremony.

"Jesus, Callie! My Dad is going to be here at 8!" Arizona cries, trying to scramble out of the bed, wincing in pain as her leg felt as though it had been lit on fire before dropping back into the pillows.

"What?" The sleepy Latina groans, still not completely in the land of the living. Arizona's bed is far too comfortable for that.

"Today is the ceremony! My Dad said he was going to be here at 8 so that he could make sure I was ready and that we could get to the ceremony on time!" The blonde rambles, huffing in annoyance that she couldn't move faster.

"Babe, it doesn't start until 12. You've got time." Callie soothes, a wry smile appearing on plump red lips as she attached these to the collar bone of a very stressed out marine, her fingers sliding further and further south down the blonde's tight abs.

"Callie, don't start something that you can't finish." Arizona moans, her breath hitching as Callie's soft fingers found her delicate bundle of nerves.

"Arizona…" Callie warns, enjoying the slightly salty taste of the blonde's skin that always followed one of their athletic sex-athons.

"Oh God." The blonde whimpers as Callie began gently tickling her clit, her body responding instantaneously. "Baby…"

Grabbing the Latina's head forcefully with both hands, Arizona brings Callie's lips to her own, the heat of the kiss almost making Callie lose her concentration. Responding eagerly as Arizona's tongue invades her mouth and, moaning slightly at the sensation, Callie almost gasps as she was flipped onto her back, her girlfriend pinning her to the bed as she carefully straddles her hips.

Breaking the kiss to smile wryly at the Latina, Arizona chuckles to herself. Two could play that game. Latching onto an already erect nipple, Arizona simultaneously moves her hand down to the Latina's opening, gently skimming her clit on the way down before cupping the heated sex in her palm.

"Tell me how you want it." Arizona pants, "How do you need it, Calliope?"

"Ari…" Was all the sentence Callie could muster as Arizona's finger plunged into her depths, the moist warmth of the Latina feeling like home to the marine as she gently begins to apply firm pressure to her G spot, her fingers imitating the classic 'come-hither'. "Fuck me…"

"Yes Ma'am!" Arizona grins, enjoying this sweet torture way too much.

Knowing that her time is limited, Arizona doesn't wait to increase her pace inside the Latina, her firm pressure on that spongy centre making the brunette come undone before her eyes. They should always go to bed naked – saves so much time in the morning that way.

"Calliope…" The blonde pants, the expression on her girlfriend's face, knowing that it is her that is causing the Latina so much pleasure never fails to get Arizona's own juices flowing, the blonde quickly becoming slick with want.

Almost as though Callie can read her mind, the Latina's fingers swipe expertly across the marine's engorged bud, Arizona's body shivering at the jolts of pleasure the unexpected contact sends through her body, her finger nails digging into the Latina's shoulder eliciting another sweet moan from her. A little pain mixed in with that pleasure always making their love making sessions ten times more potent.

Panting from the effort and Callie's increasingly manic finger movements over her sensitive clit, Arizona brings her lips down upon the indents her fingers just created in the Latina's shoulders.

"Please…" Callie almost cries, Arizona having worked her up into a frenzy – leaving her just on the precipice of her orgasm without actually managing to reach her release just yet. "Arizona…"

"Arizona Robbins! You had better be awake, Marine!" A deep and familiar voice calls out into the almost silence of Arizona's apartment.

Feeling her own orgasm building up in her core, Arizona plunges her soaked fingers as deep as she can manage into her girlfriend, teasing her nub roughly as she drags her fingers out of her to send her into oblivion in tandem with her own release, clamping her lips down on the Latina's in an attempt to swallow her moans of ecstasy.

Finally regaining enough breath and energy to push herself up and off the Latina she'd fallen on top of as the strength in her arms and legs faded at the moment of orgasm, Arizona looked directly up at the ceiling, lungs working overtime.

"He's early…" Arizona drawls, licking Callie's sweet nectar from her fingers before planting a nonchalant kiss on her girlfriend's plump lips.

"You gave him a key?!" Callie whispers harshly, a mixture of lacking the lung capacity for anything greater and trying to remain hidden from the intruder.

"He's my Dad, Calliope! Of course I was stupid enough to give him a key!" Arizona replies in kind, her face flushed red as a beet from their workout as she pulled the sheets up and around her girlfriend's and her own naked bodies.

The sound of footsteps getting louder on the opposite side of the bedroom door gave the interrupted couple pause to look at each other. A mirror image of fear etched into the features of either woman as a silhouette began to form behind the heavily frosted glass of the bedroom door.

"Oh shit!" Callie hisses, her voice hoarse. Her heart was beating faster than she could ever remember it beating, the thump-thump of the organ making it feel as though her heart was about to jump out of her chest. "Arizona…"

"Quick, under the covers." The marine whispers, holding the sheets up so Callie could slide easily underneath them. It was probably one of the worst cover-ups of all time, but what other choice did they have? Sure, her Dad was the coolest Dad in the world, but this situation would never be anything but awkward for anyone. Arizona just hoped that her dad was too preoccupied with her tardiness to notice the lump next to her.

"What? Seriously?" The Latina exclaims, an incredulous look on her face. She'd been expecting Arizona to whip out some of her military skills, fashion a hideout in a matter of seconds, or have a panic switch next to her bed that led them into a secret chamber. Maybe that one was one of the books on the bookcase… "This is your plan?"

"Quickly! He's almost here!" Arizona agreed, this was probably one of the worst attempts to hide on the face of the planet, but what else was there for it? It wasn't like she lived in a CIA safehouse with fake walls and distraction everywhere. Although there was the bookcase…

Both heads snap to the door as the sound of flesh on metal rang in their ears, a hand clasping itself around the bedroom door handle.

"I love you." And with a peck on the cheek from her girlfriend, Callie slipped skilfully under the covers, her world becoming coated in darkness as Arizona resealed the opening through which she had just passed.

"Arizona Robbins. Why are you still in bed? You should have at least had a shower by now." Daniel Robbins berates, his arms crossing authoritatively across his chest, hat in hand.

"Hi Dad." Arizona replies casually, pulling her knees up in an attempt to held hide the Calliope shaped lump next to her.

"Hi." The man replies shortly before turning from the door. "I'm going to go and put the coffee on, and I want you clean as a whistle in 10 minutes, you hear?"

"Yes sir." You could take the girl out of the military, but you couldn't take the military out of the girl.

"Good." The Colonel replies crisply with a nod of his head. "Oh, and good morning, Callie."

It was at that moment that Arizona Robbins wished that she had died when she'd gotten blown up. Sure, it wasn't new to her dad that she was a lesbian, and it wasn't new to her dad the fact that Callie was her girlfriend. She just wasn't sure that she wanted him to know certain things about their relationship… Walking in on her and her girlfriend in bed was definitely one of those things.

A small sound, accompanied by a few rustles of moving sheets replied to her father's greeting. "Good morning Colonel."

* * *

"You look extremely sexy in that you know." Callie plays, smoothing out the imaginary wrinkles from the chest of Arizona's dress jacket, lingering over her bosom.

"Callie, stop it," Arizona smiles, a rose blush coming to her cheeks. "My Dad is going to start thinking we are sex crazed."

"Well… I hate to be the one to have to tell you this babe, but we kind of are." Callie's smile mirroring that of her girlfriend's.

"I know that, I just don't want my Dad knowing that." Arizona's voice a conspiring whisper.

"Love you." Callie laughs, pulling on the lapels of Arizona's jacket to bring her into a short but sweet kiss.

"I love you too." The blonde replies before her face turned sour, her mind turning to other things. "Are you sure you can't come and sit by me?" The blonde groans, looking over her shoulder at her current neighbour, "I don't want to have to sit next to some smelly old stuck up military fart."

"You know I would if I could babe, but rules are rules." Especially in the military, Callie thought. "I'll be with your Mom. She's so proud of you 'Zona."

Looking over at Barbara, the older woman waving proudly at the two, Arizona couldn't help turn her mind to the one person who she wanted more than anything to be there, but couldn't.

"I wish Tim was here." The pain in Arizona's eyes was almost too much for Callie to bear, that look of complete hopelessness was ever present when she remembered that there was a person missing from her life that should have been there for all of the big things, to be there to protect her and to urge her on when everyone else said that she couldn't do it.

"I know honey." Callie sighs, drawing Arizona into a firm hug, gently rubbing her hands down her girlfriend's freshly pressed blazer before whispering, "now go and knock 'em dead."

Giving a small smile to her girlfriend and a peck on the lip in departure, Arizona almost has to shield her eyes at the amount of metal shining from its position on her father's chest as she comes to sit next to him in her designated position.

"Colonel." Arizona greets, really wishing right about now that she'd bought her sunglasses. This being Seattle, it didn't really pass her mind that she may require sun protection, but it seems today's the one day in a blue moon that it's both sunny and warm in the Emerald city.

"Lieutenant." Her father responds in kind, always the professional. Well… Almost always. The bright smile on his face is the sort that reaches his eyes, is the same smile he wore when she told him she wanted to join the Marines, was the same smile he wore when she won her first military honours. He was proud of her. Not that he would say it in so many words in this setting, but he really didn't need to. Growing up with the man, you learnt to read people and Colonel Daniel Robbins in particular.

Nudging him lightly on the shoulder, the blonde can't help herself but take a peek back at her girlfriend, chatting happily away with her mother as if they'd been friends for life. The soft smiles on both their lips bringing one to Arizona's very own lips. '_I wonder what they are talking about…'_

"Doesn't she look beautiful?" Barbara smiles, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Whether they were out of sadness of the loss of her only son, or out of pride for Arizona, Callie wasn't sure, but if she was a betting kind of girl, she would say that it was probably a bit of both.

"Beautiful." Callie agrees. She hadn't realised it before, Gods know how, but there was something unequivocally sexy about a woman in uniform. Maybe it was just Arizona in uniform, but she couldn't help but cross her legs to provide the slightest relief to her now throbbing clit. Callie almost laughed. All it took was the sight of her girlfriend in her dress uniform. It was an odd thing – the clothes were the thing that got her juices flowing, but all Callie wanted to do was to rip them off.

* * *

"So how does it feel, Captain?" Callie chortles, enjoying the feel of the word on her lips, her hands once again fiddling with the lapels of her girlfriend's jacket.

The ceremony went without a hitch. Arizona and the dozen other people getting promoted all sticking to their roles with military precision, but then again, who would expect less? Arizona, of course, was the best looking one out there, but that wasn't the fault of anyone else, it was just a fact that, in Callie's eyes, Arizona was the most beautiful thing on the planet.

Daniel had given his daughter a proud handshake, whilst Barbara had all but suffocated Arizona, planting a loving kiss on her daughter's cheek, and now, Callie was alone with her girlfriend following more closely in Mrs Robbins' tracks than the Colonel's.

"I love you, Calliope." Arizona whispers, the mega-watt smile adorning the Latina's face the only response she needs as the marine pulls her girlfriend for a slow and gentle kiss.

"I love you too." Callie replies, resting her forehead against the blondes, feeling a unconscious tension lift from the blonde's body as her hands run gently up and down the other's arms.

"You know I said that I wished Tim could have been here?" Arizona asks the Latina, who just nods her head lightly in response. "I know it sounds weird and like I am a crazy person, but…" The blonde chuckles to herself, not believing that she is actually about to say this. "There was something… I dunno… A feeling. I felt him there Callie, on the podium. I could smell him. He was there…"

"He was there." Callie agrees, encircling the blonde in a tight hug. "I wish I could have met him…"

"I wish you could have met him too. He would have loved you Calliope. Not as much as me, of course."

"Of course not." Callie can't help but laugh lightly at her girlfriend's antics. "What do you want to do now?"

"Let's go home."

"But Arizona, it's such a lovely day today. Who knows when we'll see the sun again?" Callie asks half in jest, half in complete seriousness.

"No, Calliope. Let's go home." The emphasis that the marine is putting on the last three words has Callie scrunching her face up in what Arizona can't help but find one of the cutest things ever.

"Arizona..?"

"I want us to go back to our home, Calliope." Arizona puts careful emphasis on the pronouns, hoping that Callie will pick up on what she is trying to say.

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" Callie asks, the beginnings of a smile starting to play across her lips, her deep brown eyes shining in the sunlight.

"I know we said we were going to wait a while, but… Why should we wait? I love you, you love me, I can't sleep without you lying next to me and I love it when I go out in the morning and come home to you in the afternoon. So yes, I want you to move in with me because I want to spend every waking and sleeping hour I have with you. I can't imagine living without you Calliope. I don't know how I did it or so long and I don't want to ever imagine a time when you are not there. So move in with me Calliope Torres. I love you."

* * *

**A/N 2: So there it is. Shorter, I know. Hopefully it isn't too disappointing – go easy on me, I'm rusty! Any thoughts or suggestions as to where people want this story to be headed, drop us a PM or a review and I'll be glad to look them over, whether its drama or unabashed fluff, I don't mind.**

**Thanks for reading guys, and hopefully you, like me, are getting to enjoy some nice spring weather ;) Today's chapter title means 'Love and Honour'.**


	18. Vita Mors

**SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM**

**A/N: So I've been doing Insanity, because I am a sadist and, apparently, I have no regard for my own personal safety. Anyone else out there done this? And anyone else want to bitch slap Tania across the face? She's always showing me up, damn you Tania, DAMN YOU! **

**Rant over! Now onto the next chapter and a bit of drama :o**

**Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and the characters herein are the intellectual property of Shonda Rhimes. You go girl.**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Vita/Mors**

"Aaah! Arizona!" The Latina screams, the shock of the blonde's icy skin against her own causing her body to shiver at the contact. "I hate you!"

It seemed every time Callie had snuggled herself into a nice, snuggly cocoon of warmth, Arizona wasn't two minutes behind to come and freeze her to death.

"I love you too. Now come warm me up please." Arizona demands more than asks, snuggling the blankets of their bed around herself as she tries to get some warmth back into her frozen body. That was one thing about the Middle East, unlike Washington it rarely got too cold, except that one night…

"I don't understand how you get so cold, your feet are like icicles!" Callie squeals, wrapping the blonde in her arms and intertwining their legs despite her protestations.

"Lucky that I have you to be my own personal body warmer then." Arizona giggles, earning her a poke in the belly, the Latina's arms having wrapped themselves around the blonde's waist.

"I knew there was an ulterior motive to you asking me to move in with you." The Latina jests, feigning hurt, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

"The truth comes out." The blonde plays, earning her another poke in the stomach and eliciting a round of laughter from the pair.

Breathing deeply into the comfortable silence the two of them have lapsed into, Callie rests her chin on the blonde's shoulder, breathing in the fruity fragrance of her girlfriend's trademark shampoo.

"Does it hurt more?" The Latina asks into the darkness, her fingers absently stroking the side of Arizona's scarred leg.

"Hmm?" Arizona mumbles, her eyes becoming more clouded by sleep with each passing second.

"Your leg. Does it hurt more? When it's cold." Callie's voice is barely more than a whisper, as if frightened to bring the subject up.

"Mmm… Yeah, a bit." Came the reply, the marine's voice mirroring that of her girlfriend's. "It'll probably be like that from now on, right?"

"Yeah, babe. Probably…" The thing about surgery and physiotherapy was that it can only get you so far. When the injury was so severe, when the trauma was so massive, there was always going to be a lasting impact.

"Thought so." Arizona answers, her voice sounding resigned but neutral. No anger, no hurt, no betrayal, just acceptance. "Guess that means you'll never be able to leave me then."

"Just try to get rid of me." Callie whispers, her own eyes fluttering open and closed in an attempt to stay awake.

"Do you have to go to work tomorrow?" The blonde whines, not looking forward to another day of entertaining herself whilst her gorgeous girlfriend is off cutting people open and saving lives.

"Yep."

"Why don't you…" Arizona begins, her voice low and conspiratorial as she turns over from her position being spooned to come face to face with her girlfriend, "just call in sick and spend the whole day in in bed. With me."

Arizona starts laying soft kisses along the Latina's collar bone and neck, making her girlfriend's eyes roll back into her eyelids.

"Arizona…" Callie warns, the resolve sounding weak, even to the Latina's own ears. "We can't… I need to sleep… I…"

Arizona slips her hand swiftly into her girlfriend's panties, swiping her fingers gently across the Latina's clit before plunging two fingers into her molten core.

"Tell me what you need, Calliope." Arizona whispers, Callie's hips arching up into her touch, speaking a thousand words in one movement, the surgeon's body betraying her brain.

"Fuck me…" The Latina gasps.

"Well, if you say so."

* * *

Another day, another shift at work and another wake up at the ass crack of dawn. It was one of the few things that Callie hated about being a surgeon, but then the world didn't run on Callie's time. The world had its own plans and didn't care whether or not Callie was sleeping or not, was tired or not. Not that she could really complain.

A wide grin erupts on the Latina's face as she remembers the fun and games Arizona and herself had played last night. She'd started off the night content to simply fall asleep with her girlfriend in her arms, but when Arizona had other ideas… The two of them hadn't gotten to sleep until around 3:30 AM, and what with Callie's shift starting at 09:00… She really hadn't had that much sleep.

Not that she was complaining or anything. Life was too good at the moment to be complaining, which was rare for Callie because God knows the world had sent her a good lifetimes worth of complaints in her time as one of its many inhabitants. Just having Arizona with her, knowing that the blonde beauty was her girlfriend, was in love with her of all people, it made everything else in the world, however bad, tolerable.

Today, though, the world seemed to agree with Callie - that today was going to be a good day. For once the roads were almost empty, traffic flowing steadily as people made their way to and from work, or simply out to enjoy the day. 8:20 AM. She was going to be early, well, earlier than usual at least, the brunette liking to get a handle on her cases before the start of her shift and morning rounds.

If Callie had a choice, if she hadn't become a surgeon, if her life had been different, she would have very much liked to have been a race car driver. Oh, her dad would have had a hernia over that one, Callie smiled, chuckling at the thought. There were only two other places where she got the same kind of calmness and relaxation, the feeling of complete ease as she felt in the OR. One was every minute, every second she spent with Arizona, at least when they weren't raising the temperature of the room, and the second was sitting behind the wheel of her beloved T-Bird.

"Today is going to be a good day…" Callie mused aloud, squinting into the early morning sunlight. "A really good…"

**BANG**

A bright white light, and pain. Lots of pain. Then nothing…

* * *

There's only so much time a person can spend in bed in one day. Especially when there's only one person in said bed and the other side is cold and empty. Having said that, Arizona had done pretty well today, managing to stay horizontal right up until 09:00 AM, which for a marine who is used to getting up before the rooster earlier, was quite an achievement. It was at times like this that the field office didn't need her to start doing whatever it was exactly she was supposed to be doing until later in the month.

It was at that point that Arizona decided that she was going to make today a really good day. A productive day, and one that would start with surprising her gorgeous girlfriend at work. That is what bought her to the bakery just across the road from the hospital. Lattes and lemon poppy seed scones were Callie's one weakness, the woman just couldn't get enough of the things, and Arizona loved the way her girlfriend smiled at her whenever she popped in unannounced in the middle of one of her marathon shifts just because… Plus Wallace was out with is mom, so…

Checking her watch, Arizona smiled. Callie wasn't due in surgery until 12:00 PM and it had just turned 10:00, so she had plenty of time to spend with the Latina, preferably picking up where they left off last night or more precisely, this morning.

Arizona took in a deep breath of the Seattle air. It was a beautiful sunny day today, not exactly warm, but sunny. It was one of the things that Arizona liked about Seattle, that even though you got horribly rainy days in their millions, the days when the sun came out, after it had rained, were spectacular. In the mornings there was something about the way the sun reflected off the evaporating rain. It wasn't really something she'd gotten to enjoy in Iraq.

Deciding to walk instead of getting her usual cab, there had been some sort of accident on the roads somewhere that had turned the streets of Seattle into gridlock, Arizona couldn't help but huff at her slow progress. She'd ditched her crutches, much to her girlfriend's chagrin, and that of her physio, who had both told her it was too soon to go it alone, but whatever. She hated the things and the blisters they gave her on her hands, plus she was much quicker by her own steam, not that that meant she was sprightly exactly. Promising to catch a cab home would placate Callie, Arizona was sure, not to mention the baked goods in her hand.

Finally reaching the doors to the hospital, a sight she was more than familiar with, Arizona stepped from the calm of the morning into what appeared to be the apocalypse. Gurneys were everywhere, triage kits strewn about the lobby with more doctors than Arizona had seen in her life (and Arizona had seen her fair share of doctors) running around, many ….

"What happened here?" Arizona calls to a nurse she recognises, one of Callie's scrub nurses… Julie, maybe?

"10 Car Pile-Up on the freeway." The nurse shouted to her, the woman never breaking her own stride. "18 wheeler blindsided a sports car and jack knifed. Nasty stuff."

"Jesus…" Arizona breathes, closing her eyes to the destruction. One thing she'd learnt, pretty much on the first day she had returned from her first tour of duty was that she could be killed just as easily at home, at peace, then she could at work, in the middle of a battlefield.

Walking further into the hospital, Arizona moves her way to the emergency department. If it is as bad as it seems, they were going to need as much help as they could get. She wasn't a trained nurse, nor did she profess to have any medical knowledge larger than your average bathroom cabinet, but she had two steady hands and was good under pressure. Maybe crowd control…

Suddenly a whizz of muscle, topped by a mop of unmistakable ginger hair passes in a blur in front of the marine. Just the man she was looking for.

"Major Hunt." Arizona calls, but the man continues on his path, seemingly oblivious of her shouts.

"Major!" Arizona repeats, her best battlefield shout being employed to gain the retired ranger's attention.

"Robbins…" Hunt gulps, his voice hoarse and out of breath. "Arizona…" His voice softens, his eyes conveying a look of sympathy mixed with hurt and fatigue.

"I… I'm so sorry…."

What..? Why was he sorry? None of it made the least bit of sense to Arizona, the Major had never been anything but amiable to her, no, they weren't exactly best friends, but Arizona liked to say they were friends, if not only due to their past experiences in the military.

Opening her mouth to begin voicing her questions to the Major, a door slamming open in her peripheral vision takes the blonde's attention. Turning her gaze to the newly opened door, Arizona has to blink twice before her mind can allow her to take in the scene before her.

There, on a table is the woman she loves. She can't see much, but what she can see is a lot of blood, blood on the gurney, blood the floor, blood oozing from her girlfriend's body… A body that was as pale as a ghost. It wasn't Callie… It wasn't HER Calliope.

But it was.

Bile starts to rise in Arizona's throat, a lemon poppy seed scone falling to the floor from her limp fingers with a deafening thud.

* * *

In the moments before death the brain is deprived of oxygen, cortisol is released, brain waves surge all culminating in what many people describe as an ethereal experience, a calming out of body experience that many attribute to a higher power, to God or Allah, or whatever deity they believe in. Some say they see their families, people they love.

It's all science, it's all part of the body's deception - easing you into death. But damn if it doesn't feel real.

"So what do you think?" A voice permeates the silence, close but from an unseen source.

It sounded familiar, the voice, although Callie couldn't quite place it. The inflections sounded familiar, the cheerful, bouncy pattern of their speech, yet unequivocally male.

"It's okay, Callie. I know this is all a bit weird." The voice laughs gently, although it did little to ease the surgeon.

'_That' _Callie thought, _'was the understatement of the century.'_

"Who… who are you?" Her voice sounds distant, even to herself, a shout as a whisper, as though her lungs were still.

"That doesn't really matter." The voice seems to smile, "You'll figure it out eventually, I don't doubt. You are amazingly intelligent, after all. You know, that cartilage is quite something."

"G… G… God?" Callie stumbles. She didn't know how she'd gotten here, or where this was, all she remembered was a bright white light and the worst pain she'd ever felt in her life.

"Oh, I am definitely not God! Definitely not." Finally, a figure appears from the ether, a silhouette against a harsh white backdrop. "I'm just a messenger, a guide."

"A guide for what? Where am I?" Her heart felt as though it was going to beat out of her chest.

"You must have some idea, Callie. You did, after all, just ask if I was God."

"Heaven?" Callie whispers, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Not quite. But close. Too close really." The figure sighs, their shoulders visibly slumping before continuing, "This is kind of like limbo. This is where you make your choice."

"Why is everything so white and fluffy?"

"Don't ask me, this is your mind, not mine." The silhouette laughs lightly, taking a step forward, their face remaining masked. "Everything here is what you make it, Callie."

"Is that..?"

A girl, no more than four had appeared in a similar fashion as her 'guide'. Her long blonde hair hung in soft ringlets around her shoulders, her skin a magnificent copper that seemed to glow in the bright light. Turning her face to Callie, the girl smiled that unmistakable dimpled smile, her eyes green speckled with gold and blue hues that made Callie's heart melt.

The figure simply nods in response.

"Just remember that none of this…" The guide adds, gesticulating to the open expanse before him, the child that had suddenly appeared hopping from ethereal cloud to ethereal cloud, "is real. And you can't stay here forever."

"Why..?"

"You know the answer to that one, Callie. That's not the right question." Her guide replies, shaking their shrouded head.

"Then what are the right questions?!" Callie cries, why are there never any simple answers?

"Do you want to be here?" The voice answers without a hesitation, their tone sharp and to the point, giving Callie pause.

"I don't know..? I mean I didn't really have a choice in the matter… I don't even remember what happened, one second I was fine and then…"

Callie dropped her hands to her sides with an audible smack. All this talk of choices was giving her a headache, the way the figure before her managed to reply to all of her questions, yet avoid giving her any answers… It was infuriating.

"That is true, you didn't have a choice in that…"

"But I have a choice now..?" Callie interrupted, reading in between the lines. She was a doctor, after all.

"Maybe… But time is running out. You have to decide, Callie. Decide whether you'd rather come with me or go back to her."

The name didn't need to be said, Callie knew exactly who the man meant.

"Arizona…"

"She needs you, Calliope." The voice continues, pressing and urgent. "More than you know."

Suddenly it all falls into place. The voice… Only Arizona ever calls her Calliope… Well, Arizona and her Dad, but only Arizona says it like that…

"Tim?"

"I knew you'd get it." Finally coming into focus, the man smiled that dimpled smile that Callie loved so much. "My sister chose well with you. She loves you more than anything I've ever seen."

"I love her too, so much…" Callie answered, the tears threatening in her eyes mirrored on the face of Arizona's passed brother.

"I know." Tim smiles sadly.

"I can't imagine life without her." Callie whispers, wiping away an escaped tear.

"What about death?" Tim asks, completely serious. "A lifetime is a long time, but death is eternal."

"I can't… I can't do this to her, I can't… I need to be with her, Tim. I love her, I want to be with her, the real her, not something that my brain has conjured up, I…" Callie gasps, her lungs definitely failing her now.

"Calm down, Callie… Breathe…" Tim soothes, bringing his hands to the sides of her face.

"Callie..? You need to breathe…" "Where's that blood bag?!"

I'll breathe, I'll breathe for you Arizona…

* * *

"You didn't fucking call me?" Arizona cries, anger oozing from every pore of her body.

"Arizona…" Mark pleads; his eyes filled with unshed tears, the usually strong man seeming small and weak at this moment.

"NO MARK. WHAT THE FUCK!" The blonde screams, no longer able to keep her anger in check, her fear pushing all semblance of control out of her command.

"Arizona, please…" Mark tries to speak, but is instantly cut-off by a furious blonde.

"WHAT IS IT? IS IT BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN? IS IT BECAUSE WE ARE GAY?" Arizona knew how stupid that sounded, none of the people who worked in the hospital cared whether she was gay, straight, or bi, and everyone here loved Callie almost as much as she did, but she was angry dammit!

"ARIZONA! WE DIDN'T RING YOU BECAUSE NO-ONE HAS YOUR NUMBER." Mark screams, his tone matching that of the blonde haired woman.

"What do you mean you don't have my number? Callie has my number Mark, my number is in Callie's phone, the phone that she takes everywhere, Mark!" Tears in the blonde's eyes, anger subsiding into pain, the fear leaping forward once again to override any other emotion.

How did this happen? She was going to work, the same way she does every day… What..? It didn't make sense, it was Callie… Callie was always so careful, it was Arizona that was the reckless one, the one that everything happened to, and that was the way Arizona liked it. Just thinking about anything hurting Calliope made her stomach churn. It was all wrong, she must be in some horrible nightmare…

"Yeah, well…" Mark holds up a bag containing the remains of a very familiar looking phone and Arizona's stomach drops.

Silence is all that answers him. The blonde feels her body hit the floor, but she has no idea how she got there, but there's no pain from the fall. The only pain she feels is a sudden fire burning beneath her surgical scars, matched only by the flames burning her heart into ash, the rest of her body, ice.

"I would have rung you if I knew your number, Arizona, you know that! I would have fucking come to your apartment and gotten you if I'd had the time, but I was trying to save lives, Arizona." Mark's voice starts to become raised, his own anger bubbling over.

One again, the man is answered only by the steady beep-beep of nearby hospital equipment.

"Look. Usually insurance leads us to emergency contacts, but obviously Callie hadn't changed hers yet, or she'd forgotten about it." Sloan continues after blowing out a calming breath. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that her Father was her emergency contact."

"Okay." Arizona responds, choking down a sob, her body wrapped around itself on the floor. One word sentences were a miracle at this moment.

"It's an obligation to ring them, if we have their details." Mark finishes, his voice softer than when he had begun.

It made sense that Callie had her father as her emergency contact. Even if she didn't speak to him that often, he was still her dad and she still loved him. Her and Callie hadn't even been together a year… And she'd been so busy with the cartilage, the shooting… Everything… It hurt, but it made sense.

"Okay." Arizona nods, scrubbing angrily at her damp eyes, a new resolve coming over the blonde as she tries to bring herself back to her feet. If she wanted Callie to fight, then that meant that she had to fight too, and Arizona was pretty damn good at fighting.

"He's already on a plane out here."

* * *

**A/N 2: So today's chapter title means Life/Death. Hands up who got that already! What do you guys think? I thought that Arizona seems to always be the one under the knife, and she deals pretty well. But how will she fair when it's not her, but the woman she loves in danger? Stay tuned for more! Thanks for reading guys :)  
**


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